All In This Together (GroupTale AU)
by TheNinjaOfShips
Summary: Frisk ends up falling down, causing two brothers to follow looking for her. When they go missing, four of their other friends go after them in search of where they have gone. After falling down, they know it's going to be rough, but at least they're all in it together. T because Undertale.
1. Prologue

**Alright, so I've seen ponystoriesandothers do an AU of this (I highly suggest it), and I want to do my own! Frisk is a female in this and Chara is a male. They are minorly shipped along with the other SOULS, but that's not the focus of this AU. Anyways, you'll learn more about how my SOULS are as we go on. There were a few names I wanted to use, but I wanted to make a lot of difference. Let's get started!**

.:?:.

"Hey! That's mine!" An auburn haired girl reached for the gaming controller that her best friend was holding. He held it above his head in a taunting yet adorable way.

The light brown haired boy grinned and stuck out his tongue. Another guy snatched it from his hand.

"Aiden! Give that back!" The first boy sighed, trying to grab it back.

"You stole it from me in the first place, Ethan!" His best friend scowled at him and he rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry Harmony. I wanted to win."

"You could just try and play the game!" She exclaimed with a sigh.

"But that's boringggggggg." Ethan earned a light punch on his arm. He just grinned.

"I made pie!" Emily announced, holding it out for everyone.

"Does it have-"

"No, Ivan, it doesn't have any of your allergies in it. Trust me."

Ivan nodded and took a piece of the pie before sitting back down in lotus position. Aiden handed one to Tessa before taking one himself. Ethan scarfed his down excitedly while Harmony ate hers slowly and watched him, her eyes glistening with amusement.

"Are we ready to go to the amusement park?" Ivan asked, wiping his mouth once everyone was done with their pie. Everyone nodded in unison and the group headed to the amusement park. When they got there, Aiden rushed over to one of the sellers. He was selling cotton candy. "TAKE MY MONEY!" He slammed it down and took one of the cotton candies.

Emily headed towards the Ferris wheel, her green eyes fixated on it.

Tessa went to the line for the newest roller coaster. Luckily, she was patient, so she didn't mind waiting in the line all that much.

Ivan strolled over to the bumper cars. He was fond of them.

"I'm gonna ride all the water rides!" Harmony told Ethan, her voice blissful.

"I'll come with you." He forced a smile. He hated water rides. He hated them with his very soul. But he knew Harmony adored them, so he went along with it.

"Yay!" She cheered, jumping up as the two waited in line. Ethan was feeling more nervous. When they got on, Harmony was feeling pretty relaxed, while Ethan was a shuddering mess.

"Are you okay?" Harmony asked him, her tone filled with concern.

"I'm good!" He offered a shaky thumbs up. Harmony frowned thoughtfully as they went uphill.

"Yay! We're about to get to the drop!" Harmony clapped her hands together excitedly. No comment from Ethan as the ride went down so quickly that he got his own heart attack. Fantastic, right?

So:

Aiden got his cotton candy.

Emily got to ride the Ferris wheel.

Tessa got to ride the newest roller coaster that had come out.

Ivan got to ride the bumper cars.

Harmony got to ride the water rides.

And Ethan got a miniature heart attack from some of the rides just so he'd be keeping his best friend happy.

Those were the good times. They were the times where the group wasn't Underground battling boss monsters and trying to stay alive. Wait...? You haven't heard that story? Huh. Well, let's start from the beginning then, shall we?

* * *

A light brown haired girl climbed up Mt. Ebott, tossing her hair out of her face to reveal two chocolate brown eyes. She was wearing a blue sweater with purple stripes and nice long jeans. She searched for the cave she had went into so many times. There it was. She pushed through the vines, looking down the hole. A grin spread across her face. Finally! She had found it again! She jumped down without hesitation.

It was a new run, a new start.

* * *

"Come on!" Ivan tugged his brother's sleeve with one hand, the other kept around his notebook. It had been days since there was a missing report on a girl named Frisk. Ivan wanted to find out more about her disappearance, so he decided to bring Aiden with him.

"I'm coming, I'm coming." Aiden sighed, following his younger brother.

"I want to find out more about Mt. Ebott!" He exclaimed excitedly.

Aiden climbed up after him, making sure he gets up alright.

They were in the same place Frisk was, and Ivan looked around excitedly.

He started drawing everything and taking notes. He then decided to walk forward, before he could notice all of the vines on the ground. He tripped over one of them and fell down the hole.

"IVAN!" Aiden looked in horror and immediately jumped in after him.

Ivan and Aiden's family was very worried about them, for they had not returned in days. The group decided they'd go look for them.

Harmony's blue eyes reflected the concern shown in her tone. "Is this such a good idea? Don't get me wrong, I want to find Ivan and Aiden. It just seems strange that they disappeared days after the other girl."

Ethan rested his arm on his best friend's shoulder. "Come on, Harmony! What's the worst that could happen?" His cheery tone was trying to reassure her. Although it didn't really reassure her, she faked a smile.

Tessa muttered something from behind the two. "I could imagine a lot of things going wrong."

Ethan picked up her remark. "What do you suggest we do? Just have a little bravery!"

"If we're patient enough, they may come back in a few days and we're worried about nothing!"

Emily bit her lip nervously, starting to climb up the mountain. Tessa followed, as well as Ethan and Harmony.

Harmony slightly struggled due to her ballet shoes, but didn't say about her bruises to anyone. Her friends (mainly Ethan) kept pulling her up, and eventually they reached the same cave Frisk was in.

"Wow..." Harmony looked around, slightly in awe. "What is this place?"

Emily shrugged, pointing at the hole. "I don't know. We just know it's in Mt. Ebott."

"It's kind of neat." Ethan adjusted his bandanna. "Should we be here very long?"

Tessa seemed a little terrified and Emily observed the area. "Perhaps not? But maybe Aiden and Ivan fell down here."

Ethan looked around and then gasps, picking up a pair of glasses. "These are Ivan's!"

"This doesn't look good." Harmony cautiously stepped forward to look around further, right before she slipped and hung onto the edge. "That's really deep!" Her voice echoed up before she lost grip.

"I've got you." Ethan grabbed her hand before she can fall, attempting to reassure her, but ended up falling down the hole with her. "Or not."

"Well, I guess we're going in." Emily looked over the edge before jumping in to follow her friends.

Tessa shut her eyes, swallowing. This must've been where Ivan and Aiden fell. Before she could think much more of it, she purposely walked forward and fell in, preparing for the worst.

* * *

 ** _OH MY MARKUS!_**

 ** _I redid this chapter because I was unhappy with it. Thanks for reading :P_**


	2. A Flower Fight and Puzzles

**Chapter One**

 _Frisk opened her eyes and looked around. She knew where she was, and she got up. She looked around. Something about this run was very different. A ghost appeared in front of her and offered his hand. "Hello. Long time no see."_

 _Frisk grinned. "Chara! There's something up with this run. Do you know what?"_

 _"Yeah. There is. The human SOULS... they're with you this time."_

 _"What do you mean?" She questioned, getting up and immediately passing Flowey with no words._

 _"They aren't dead in this run. They're alive. And they're coming to find you." He explained, his red eyes glowing._

 _She sighed. "Well then, I better get a move on, right?"_

 _Chara nodded with a grin. "Yep."_

 _She started to go through all the puzzles as she remembered, until she encountered Toriel._

 _Toriel looked really impressed that she didn't have a scratch on her. Frisk offered a smile as she walked back to the home with Toriel. She was cared for there and rested there for the night. When she woke up, she immediately left. She wanted to say goodbye to Toriel, but couldn't bring herself to do it. Every time in the previous run, there was a fight with her where she could say goodbye. She didn't want to have to fight her again and continued on... to Snowdin._

* * *

 **.:AIDEN:.**

Aiden wakes up, groaning. His body aches all over. He touches his head only to find his hat gone and shoots up, looking around. "My hat!" He looks around further and spots it in the distance, so he snatches it up. He then realizes his little brother is still unconscious.

"Ivan!" He pulls him off of the flower bed. He immediately checks his pulse, and he sighs in relief when he finds it. He lays him against the wall and sits next to him, still holding his brother's notebook. He searches around for Ivan's glasses, but there's no success.

He leans back against the wall. He was out for a while, most likely. He then hears a thud and stumbles, turning around the corner. On the flower bed were four other people; Ethan, Harmony, Tessa, and Emily.

He lays them out separately, concerned. All of them look fine, except for Harmony, who looks slightly more beat up because she was on the bottom of the pile.

Ivan finally wakes up. "A-Aiden? Where are my glasses?"

Aiden hands them to him. One of the lenses was cracked, but only slightly. His younger brother sighs and puts them back on. "Not too bad." He muses, and the two wait for their friends to wake up.

They slowly do, and are relieved they are all alive.

Harmony exhales, looking around. "How do we get out of here?"

"Maybe we should try walking down the path." Tessa suggests, shrugging.

Ethan decides to lead the way. After all, he is the SOUL of BRAVERY. Harmony follows slightly beside him, slightly behind him. Emily walks behind the pair and next to Tessa. The older girl, Tessa, sighs and glances at Aiden. The boy is too busy fidgeting with his gun to notice. Ivan is scribbling something down in his notebook. Aiden looks over to see and Ivan snaps it shut, not wanting him to see. Aiden turns away from his younger brother and continues down the path.

A yellow flower pops out of nowhere. "Hi! I'm Flowey! Flowey the Flower!"

Harmony is spooked and she jumps behind Ethan, who just sighs.

"A talking flower?" He looks both skeptical and amused.

Ivan is scribbling things down in his notebook vigorously. "There's no such thing as a talking flower..." He murmurs, looking back up at Flowey and down at his notebook. "How are you alive?" He starts pulling on one of the petals and Flowey snorts, pulling away. "Quit it!"

"I have a bad feeling about this." Aiden puts a hand on his gun.

Flowey keeps on a fake smile. Their SOULS appear in front of them all. "I just saw one of you a few days ago! She didn't have time to chat, unfortunately!"

Aiden thinks a bit about Flowey's comment before looking at his SOUL. He taps on it and it wavers. He smiles, for he likes the color yellow.

Harmony observes hers. "I like blue!" It moves with her as she turns around.

Emily grins, as well as Tessa, who absolutely loves the light blue color.

"Orange... cool!" Ethan decides to play around with his, seeing if it can keep up his pace, which it obviously does.

Ivan starts to take notes on all of the SOULS, but specifically his own. "Purple... how interesting."

"Anyways, that is the very culmination of your being!" Flowey then explains. "You need LV to make your SOUL stronger! LV stands for LOVE, of course! And to do that, you can get XP from what we call 'friendliness pellets.' Who here likes LOVE?"

Aiden isn't buying it, and looking at the other SOULS, Ethan isn't either. Everyone nods innocently.

"I do!" Emily exclaims, raising her hand along with Tessa.

Ivan nods and Aiden pulls his brother back. "Don't trust him, Ivan!"

He adjusts his broken glasses. "Why not?"

Aiden sighs, and whispers in his ear. "There's something... off about him." Ivan clutches onto his notebook and hesitantly nods.

Ethan crosses his arms and fixes his bandanna. "Alright, show us these 'friendliness pellets.'" He makes air quotes with his fingers.

Bullets are sent from every direction and Ethan shoves all of the girls out of the way before they are hit.

"What are you doing?" Harmony asks, getting back up from the ground and dusting herself off.

"Nothing much, just saving your life." Ethan replies, turning back to Flowey. He narrows his eyes, sticking out his tongue at Flowey. Ethan could be annoying when he wanted to.

"ARE YOU BRAINDEAD?! Run. Into. The. _Bullets_. Friendliness pellets." Flowey sent another round of them at the group. Everyone dodged.

"You know what's going on here, don't you?" Bullets surrounded all of their SOULS. "DIE!"

"You are insane!" Aiden shouts at him, aiming his gun at him. Suddenly, a fireball knocks him out of the way, before Aiden can shoot.

The tall goat monster shakes her head. "What a terrible creature, torturing such a poor, innocent youth. Do not be afraid, children." She looks surprised at the sight of six of them. "I am Toriel, caretaker of the Ruins."

Emily waves at her. "Hello."

She begins looking at all of them. "Who are you?"

"I'm Ethan!" The cheery boy pulled his gloves on even tighter.

"H-Harmony." The SOUL of INTEGRITY smiled nervously at her.

"Aiden! Nice to meet you!" He put his gun back in its holster.

"Tessa, how do you do?" She played with her ribbon.

Emily fiddled with the back of her apron. "Ah... I'm Emily."

Ivan didn't look up from his notebook. "Ivan."

"N-Nice to meet you... Ethan, Harmony, Aiden, Tessa, Emily, and Ivan." She smiles at them. "I will help you to my home, and you guys can stay there, alright?"

Aiden nods. "That would be fantastic, ma'am."

Toriel pats his head. "Toriel is fine, Aiden."

Aiden smiles sweetly and Toriel begins to lead them through. Ivan writes down everything Toriel shows them. She steps on some switches and even already has labeled switches for them to press (In which Aiden thought it was a trick and flipped the unlabeled switch).

Then there's the dummy. All of the SOULS stares at it. FIGHT, ACT, ITEM, and MERCY buttons float in front of them. Emily pokes the dummy with her finger.

Aiden breaks the silence. "...Can I shoot it?"

Tessa looks startled. "What? No!"

Aiden laughs, playing with his gun. "I'm only joking, Tess!"

Tessa crosses her arms. Aiden can be so annoying. He puts his hands up defensively. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

Ethan blinks. "What do we do with it?"

Ivan pushes up his glasses. "The best thing to do would be to talk to it. But as it is not actually a monster, this is just practice for an actual monster."

Emily nods in understanding and presses ACT. "H-Hi! I'm Emily, and I don't really want to fight you!" She plays with her braid as she speaks. _It doesn't seem much for conversation._ "W-We don't have to talk if you don't want to!"

Aiden then is half serious, half joking around. "I kind of want to shoot it."

"Violence isn't always the answer, Aiden! You being the oldest should know that the best." Tessa narrows her eyes at him. He sighs and rolls his eyes.

"I think we should spare it." Harmony chimes in.

Ethan nods in agreement. "I think so too."

"I vote to spare it." Emily says quietly.

Ivan once again pushes up his glasses, for they don't fit on his face very well. "The best option appears to be sparing it."

Aiden groans, though he never intended on shooting it in the first place. "Alright. MERCY it is."

Toriel claps for them with a grin. "Good job, my children!" She congratulated. "That is exactly what you must do!"

They keep walking down the hall and text appears, "A Froggit hops close."

Ivan observes it. "Not a normal frog..." He muses quietly, sketching it.

Ethan cracks his knuckles to sound intimidating to the frog. He's not much for conversation, but he doesn't really like fighting either.

"Ethan... you could at least try to talk to it... you don't have to scare it off." Harmony sighs, staring at the Froggit.

Ethan shrugs. "That's no fun!"

"Just watch!" Harmony turns to the Froggit. "You... er... look very... um... nice!"

"Look very nice?" Ethan raises an eyebrow and Harmony playfully shoves him out of the way. He falls down and dramatically explains that she hurt him.

 _Froggit was unaware of what she said, but was flattered anyways. Toriel glares at the Froggit and it looks down and hops away._

"You earned 0 XP and 0 G." Harmony reads aloud but is still proud of herself.

"Nice one, Harmony!" Emily cheers for her friend supportively.

Toriel then bunches them up into a group as best as she could as she walks across the spikes, which disappear as they walk a certain path. Everyone tries to stay together as best as possible, with Ethan at the end of the group so he could make sure everyone safely got there first.

After all of that, she stops at a long hallway and turns around.

"All together, please walk down this hallway without me. Please forgive me." She quickly dashed off, leaving the SOULS by themselves.

"I wonder why..." Harmony watches her leave, slightly nervous.

Ethan puts a gloved hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry about it. If there's something evil down there, we'll reason with it. And if it doesn't listen, Aiden and I will beat it up!"

Harmony tries to look disappointed in her best friend, but fails drastically and starts cracking up quietly, but her tone sounded solemn. "I guess if there's no other option, we'd have to beat it up..."

Aiden shrugs, pulling his hat down over his face. "If that's what we need to do to survive, then we'll have to. Justice has to be served." On the inside, the only reason he'd ever kill anything was to avenge someone. So he had high hopes he wouldn't have to at all.

Ivan doesn't say anything. Emily doesn't think she'd have it in her to hurt anyone, nor does Tessa. Harmony looks uncertain, but Ethan knows that if some monster killed one of his friends, he'd probably die too. But if he had to, he'd kill. Only if he had to. Or he die trying.

They start to walk down the hallway. Aiden starts thinking about everything.

"What are our parents thinking? We didn't even get to say goodbye... they just thought we were looking for the lost child and a caterpillar for Ivan's observation. And Tessa's dad didn't like her going out as it was, and who's to say he'd ever let her out again after this? That is... if they ever got home." He tries to push those thoughts out of his head and speeds up.

Everyone is confused, but they decide to keep with him. He is the oldest, so he must know what he's doing, right?

Aiden stops at the end of the hall, and Toriel steps out from behind a pillar.

"Greetings, my children. Do not worry, I did not leave you, nor will I ever leave you. Thank you for trusting me. There was an important reason for this exercise- to test your independence. I must attend some business, and you will be left alone for a while. Please remain here, for it is dangerous for you to all be out by yourselves. I have an idea. I will give you a cell phone to share." She hands it to Aiden. "If you have a need for anything, please call. Be good, alright?"

Before they could reply, Toriel leaves them by themselves again, heading away to get the house ready.

* * *

 **It's a pretty long one! I love doing these! Anyways, QOTD: What SOUL type (Perseverance, Justice, Kindness, etc.) are you (besides Determination)?**

 **Please review, and constructive criticism is always welcome, but no flames, please!**

 **OH MY MARKUS, as always!**

 **-Ninja**


	3. More Puzzles!

CHAPTER TWO

.:TESSA:.

The SOULS wait patiently for Toriel to come back... more like impatiently.

"Why can't we go on?" Aiden questions for the fiftieth time that minute.

"We aren't suppose to go on without Toriel." Emily replies, annoyed. "She left the room like, five minutes ago, could you please chill out?"

Aiden shoots a glare at her, but doesn't speak. Tessa lays on the ground and counts the brick looking tiles out of boredom. Ethan is looking up at the ceiling, wanting to speak, but deciding it is best not to. Harmony keeps pacing around, her ballet shoes making squeaky noises every time she turns around. Ivan is still writing things down in his notebook, and Emily is wondering what cooking recipes they use Underground. An hour passes, and Aiden finally takes charge. "Alright. I'm going. Whether or not you come with me is your choice."

Ivan gets up to follow his brother, and Tessa sighs. "Just be patient, Aiden!"

"No. I'd rather go on and get there." He shakes his head. How funny that Tessa is his best friend, but they fight the most.

She snorts and Harmony gets up. "To be honest, I'd rather leave before I die of boredom." This causes Ethan to get up too.

"Why not?"

Emily takes a deep breath before getting up. "Come on, Tess. Let's just go." The younger girl tries to persuade her.

"Fine. But if we get in trouble, Aiden takes the blame."

Aiden frowns, but nods.

The others don't respond, but they went on.

They walk into a new room and could go down to paths; left or right.

"Let's go left!" Tessa exclaims, and Aiden shrugs, deciding to agree with her. "Why not?" He leads the way in. Before they can do anything else, the phone Toriel gave Aiden rings.

Aiden answers it, and immediately hears Toriel's voice. "Hello? This is Toriel. You have not left that room yet, have you? May I hear all of you?"

Tessa almost instantly answers her. "No, we haven't. Hello!"

Ethan waves, despite her not being able to see him. "I'm here!"

"Ah, Tessa, Ethan, there are two of you! Where are the other four?"

"Here." Harmony peeps quietly, and Toriel knows it's her from both her voice and volume.

"Hi!" Emily exclaims, jumping up excitedly.

"I'm still in possession of the phone, Toriel!" Aiden grins at the group. He's lucky it wasn't already taken, but the mention of it could cause the other SOULS to try and take it.

"There all of you children are! Where's Ivan?" She asks, and the boy still has his eyes glued to the notebook when he replies, "Hello, Toriel. I am here."

"That is good. There are a few puzzles ahead that I have yet to explain. It would be dangerous to try to solve them yourself. You all be good, alright?" There is a click to indicate she hung up.

In the room is a bowl of monster candy on a pedestal. "Take one." A sign reads. Everyone takes one and Ethan takes another, shoving it in his inventory.

Everyone glares at him.

Ethan laughs, taking another piece of candy. Tessa frowns.

"Ethan, stop!" Emily whispers disapprovingly. He ignores her and reaches for another when the bowl falls over.

Harmony sighs and crosses her arms as her best friend dives to the ground and picks up more candy. Ethan then turns back to her, his pockets stuffed with candy.

"You feel like the scum of the earth!" Tessa exclaims in a dramatic voice. Ethan ignores her entirely.

"Ethan, don't you dare take anymore." Aiden says and Ethan turns to him, stares him straight in the eyes, and throws a piece at his face. Aiden gives him an extremely unamused glance.

Harmony rolls her eyes. "Ethan..." She grabs him by the arm and pulls him up.

"Harmony!" Ethan whines, pouting. "I just wanted candy! You know I love that stuff!"

"The sign says take one!" She points to it, narrowing her eyes.

"It's just a sign, it's not like it can pop out and attack me for taking another piece." He mumbles as Harmony drags him out of the room. Tessa snickers at this and follows them out.

"Yeah, and your love for candy has now made us look like terrible people!" She glared at him.

"I can't help but liking candy, sorry! If we were back home somewhere familiar, you'd totally let me take like, seventy pieces!"

"Well, we aren't back home, are we, Ethan?"

"I was just trying to make a point."

"Well, I just refuted your point!" This earns her a scowl from Ethan before he begins to sulk the rest of the way. Friends could ruin fun.

Aiden takes back charge. Another Froggit hops out. "I've got this one." Aiden tells them and the buttons appear in front of him. He presses ACT and then clicks on compliment.

Once again, the Froggit is flattered, so then it is available to spare. It then leaps at his SOUL and shaved off a fourth of its health. Aiden stumbles back, but it's his turn again. Aiden spares it and earns 2 G. He turns back to his friends and grins at them. "I did it!"

Emily cheers again for another success at sparing a monster. "Great work!"

Tessa nods, hoping there wouldn't be another monster they'd have to fight.

They continue on, and stop at one point where there are two chutes, and a huge space in the middle. Tessa doesn't think much of it and walks halfway across, right before the ground breaks beneath her and she falls into leaves below. "Ow..."

"Tessa, are you alright?" Aiden calls down, worried.

"I-I'm fine." She replies, wincing in pain as she sits up.

"The rest of the ground is broken up here until you get to the other side. We're coming down." He then tells her, and not even a second after she moves out of the way, Aiden falls into the leaves. "Ah... just a scratch, that's all."

Harmony elegantly jumps down **(a/n: Yes, elegantly)** and lands on the leaves. Ethan follows with a not so graceful fall, and he hits the leaves face first. He gets up and quickly hits them off of his face. Harmony is tempted to laugh, but she just drags him off of the leaves so Ivan can jump down. After Emily jumps down, they go into the right door and go out the chute on the other side.

Emily still checks everyone is alright once they get up. She observes everyone before finally agreeing that they are fine.

They walk into a new room, and the phone rings again. Aiden puts it on speaker.

"Hello? This is Toriel." It seems like this is how she typically greets people. "For no reason in particular, which do you children prefer: Cinnamon or Butterscotch?"

Tessa shrugs. "They both taste good to me."

Everyone nods in agreement.

Ethan then mutters, "I actually prefer Cinnamon."

Harmony elbows him. "Shush." She puts a finger to her lips. Ethan sighs, but just ignores her. "It's true."

"I think Butterscotch is better." Aiden narrows his eyes.

"Come on, Come on. Both are fine." Emily tries to placate both of them. Tessa crosses her arms as they both continue to argue.

"Children, calm down." Toriel tells them timidly through the phone. "I will just make both."

Both of them nod, that seeming to satisfy them. "Be good, my children." Toriel hangs up and Aiden puts the phone back in his pocket.

They then begin to walk again and there is a decently sized rock not too far away from a button. Harmony pushes on the rock with all of her might, but she can't move the rock. Ethan dashes towards the rock and pushes on it. It moves easily over to the switch. The spikes clear away, and Tessa walks across.

Whimsum approaches meekly. Tessa just waves at it with a gentle smile and it freaks out. Tessa frowns and presses spare. She earns 0 XP and 0 G.

The group continues when the phone rings again. Aiden is already use to it and puts it on speaker. "None of you have any allergies, do you?"

Everyone shakes their heads in unison, except for Ivan. "I'm allergic to nuts, latex..." The list drags on and everyone blinks at him, except Aiden, who knew all of this.

"Any other allergies?" She then asks and everyone shakes their heads once more.

"No." Tessa replies for the group. "Why?"

"Huh? Why am I asking? No reason... no reason at all..." The phone call ends and Aiden puts it back in his pocket again.

"Puzzles suck." Ethan groans as they come across another one.

"They are good for the mind, Ethan." Ivan pushes up his glasses agreesively. They almost always fall off. They put their focus back on the puzzle, which has cracked ground that looks unstable.

Aiden shrugs this off and decides to start walking onto the ground. The ground cracks and he falls onto leaves below.

"Aiden!" Tessa exclaims, rushing over to look down the hole and making sure he's okay.

He gives a crooked thumbs up from below. "I'm alright." She sighs, relieved. Aiden can be annoying, but he can also scare you half to death.

Ivan scans below. "Hm... try going where there are no leaves."

Ethan nods from behind him and looks into the hole, looking at the spaces with no leaves and then copying them in his mind. He walks where there are no leaves and makes it across to the doorway.

"Yay!" Emily cheers for him. Harmony follows exactly what he did and made it across as well.

Ethan high fives her. "Nice! You didn't even have to look down the hole!"

Harmony blushes slightly from his praise. "I just watched you do it. And I could feel where the ground was the thickest through my ballet shoes."

Ivan nods to himself and walks across as he remembers. Tessa follows him carefully. Emily then goes and Aiden is last because he fell through a hole.

They walk into the next room. Three rocks stand in a row, and three switches lie behind them. Tessa pushes against one, and Emily immediately rushes to go help. Aiden, who wanted to speed up the process, went in between them and helped them push it onto the switch. The rock next to theirs was pushed onto the switch by Ethan, Harmony, and Ivan.

They go up to the final rock, and Aiden, impatient, pushes against it.

"WHOA there, partner! Who said you could push me around?"

Aiden grunts at this, only making him push harder.

"So your askin' me to move over?" The rock asks, and Tessa grins. "If you could be so kind."

"Okay. Just for you, pumpkin." Aiden wants to beat up the rock at that comment. It moves slightly, but not enough to hit the switch.

Ethan nudges it. "HMM? You want me to move some more?" Ethan nods, pulling his gloves on tightly.

"Alrighty, how's this?" The rock goes in Ethan's direction a little, which is away from the switch.

Harmony sighs and walks in front of where Ethan is, pushing it.

"HMM? That was the wrong direction?" Harmony nods, but she looks a little frustrated with the rock. "Okay, I think I've got it."

The rock goes back onto the path and onto the button. Aiden groans, but is relieved the rock finally had gotten it. Just as Aiden was about to step over to the other side, the rock moved off of the button.

Emily goes to talk to it. She points at the button.

"HMM? You wanted me to STAY there?" Ivan is busy sketching the rock, but everyone else nods quickly. "You're giving me a real workout."

The rock finally stays on the switch, so Tessa thanks it as a Moldsmal blocks the way. It was already available to spare, so Ivan just spares it. He earns 0 XP and 0 G.

As they go on, they see a ghost on the ground.

Here comes Napstablook.

* * *

 **My sister added some things in here lol. Anyways, QOTD, do you think Aiden and Tessa could be a cute couple? Ethan and Harmony?**

 **OH MY MARKUS!**


	4. EVEN MORE PUZZLES!

**Thanks a ton to everyone who reviewed! Reviews always keep me going! And I don't own Undertale by the way, so some lines are recycled. Just thought you should know.**

CHAPTER THREE

 _Frisk walked out into Snowdin, pushing through the snow. The cold causes her fingers to go numb, but she still continued on. She got to a bridge, and heard some sounds from behind her. She knew it was Sans, and wasn't startled at hearing his voice._

 _"Human... turn around, and shake my hand." His voice was deep, but he always did this to sound intimidating at the beginning. Nothing new. Frisk turned around and shook his very boney hand._

 _Sans immediately started chuckling. "the old whoopie cushion in the hand trick. it's ALWAYS funny."_

 _Frisk grinned, Chara floating above them. "Yep. Hilarious."_

 _Sans kind of frowned. "that wasn't funny enough for you? i got a ton of jokes. a skele-ton." He winked, yet Frisk did not laugh. "you're not leaving until i get you to laugh."_

 _Frisk sighed. "Fine. You can tell me one joke."_

 _"okay, cool. why did the skeleton stop playing football?" He seemed really proud of himself for this one, his grin was extra wide. He looked around as if he was trying to make sure no one was listening. The grin didn't leave his face._

 _"I don't know, why?" Frisk had never heard this joke from him._

 _Sans was already laughing. "because his HEART wasn't in it!"_

 _Chara groaned. Frisk burst out laughing. "That one was funny."_

 _"Whatever you say, Frisk." Chara shook his head. If Frisk could shove him, she would._

 _"there we go. just had to make sure you had, you know emotions. laughter is the best medicine. well, specifically jokes."_

 _Chara mumbled something to Frisk. "Jokes just make me want to stay dead."_

 _When Sans wasn't looking, Frisk glared at him._

 _"Anyways Sans, I am the legendary fart master."_

 _Sans blinked, and then looked extremely triggered. "what? how did you know my secret passcode?" A grin spread across his face. "you're a time traveler, aren't you?"_

 _Frisk nodded. "Yep. Long time, no see."_

 _"why didn't you tell me this before, kiddo?" Sans asked, his hands in his pockets._

 _"I like your introduction without interruptions." She replied simply._

 _"what, did i do something different this time?"_

 _"Actually, yeah! You normally just introduce yourself and I laugh, but this time I didn't the first time."_

 _Sans grinned. "well, i guess that's good as long as i can make you laugh."_

 _"I better get going before the others catch up."_

 _"others don't typically show up, do they?"_

 _"No, this is totally unprecedented." Frisk responded._

 _"huh, i guess this will be a very interesting run then, huh?" Sans contemplated asking Frisk how many times they have met, but because she was already walking away, he was too lazy to yell more than two words at her, which were, "take care!"_

* * *

.:EMILY:.

A ghost lays across their path in some leaves. Aiden is about to make a running jump over him when Tessa stops him. "Aiden! Don't jump over the ghost! That's rude!"

Aiden rolls his eyes. "It's sleeping!"

"You call that sleeping?" Emily asks, pointing to it. "It's just saying 'z' out loud repeatedly! His eyes are even open!" Aiden isn't the sharpest tool in the shed.

Ethan grins, walking over. "Then I'll just have to move it with force!" Emily shoves him out of the way as she goes into the fight with him.

Harmony pats him on the back. "You'll get the next monster."

Emily presses ACT and cheer. She offers a gentle smile.

Napstablook looks just a little bit better. His tears are used as an attack against her. She dodges the attack.

"Knock knock." Emily grins, a joke ready.

"Who's there?" Napstablook asks in a depressed tone.

"Boo."

"Boo who?"

"Why are you crying?" Napstablook laughs quietly, but doesn't understand humor all that well. His next attack doesn't do anything, words just spell out _"Really not feelin up to it right now. Sorry."_

Emily cheers him on again, and he says "let me try something..." As his tears go to form a hat, he then tells her, "I call it 'dapper blook'... do you like it...?" He eagerly awaits her response. It was his best attire.

Emily gives him a thumbs up.

"Oh... gee..." The battle ends between him and her. "I usually come to the Ruins because there's no one around... but today I met someone nice... sorry, I'm rambling again. I'll just get out of your way..." He then fades away.

The group continues on and gets to two spider webs.

"All donations go to real spiders." The sign says.

Everyone looks disgusted. Ivan pushes up his glasses. "We may need it later on."

Everyone contributes at least 1 G, and a spider crawls down and gives Ethan a donut. He freezes and squeals quietly. "D-Did a spider... just hand me... a donut?" He shivers.

"Suck it up!" Harmony exclaims. "Aren't you the SOUL of BRAVERY?"

"I'm not brave when it comes to spiders, Harmony." He sulks. He shoves it towards her, for his pockets are still stuffed with monster candy. She shakes her head, though she's still grinning from amusement.

Everyone puts their focus back ahead on the path. Then, they encounters Migosp and Moldsmal.

"I CAN DEAL WITH THE JELLO!" Ethan jumps towards it, but it can already be spared. Harmony nods at this as he starts to dance with it.

"It's called Moldsmal!" Emily shouts to him.

"Who cares, it's jello!" He calls back.

Harmony turns her attention back to Migosp. He doesn't have a care in the world, he's just being him. Harmony respects this and spares him. The other SOULS are busy laughing about the fact that Ethan is still dancing with Moldsmal.

Harmony starts cracking up too, and everyone except Ivan starts dancing.

"Can we just continue on?" Ivan pushes up his glasses, speaking in his regular, monotone voice. "This is too much."

Ethan sighs and stops dancing. "You're no fun!" He finally spares the Moldsmal.

Aiden frowns, but the group continues on.

The next room has six holes, and each contain something. To continue, the switch has to be flipped.

Everyone goes over to a hole.

Aiden clears his throat. "One, two, three!" Everyone drops down at the same time. They all hit the ground with a big, collective "OOF."

"That hurt!" Ethan cries from somewhere. Before Harmony can say anything, Tessa yells, "SHUT UP!"

"But it hurt!" Ethan fakes a sniffle.

"We're trying to enjoy the moment, Ethan!" Tessa snorts.

Emily groans and pushes herself up. Napstablook is right next to her. "Oh, hey."

"I fell down a hole... now I can't get up... go on without me..."

"But aren't you a ghost?" Emily questions.

Napstablook continues. "Wait... ghosts can fly, can't they... oh well..."

Before Emily can say goodbye, Napstablook disappears.

Aiden is in a battle with a Loox in his room. "Pick on and don't pick on...?" He asks himself. "Let's not pick on him."

He presses to not pick on him. "Finally, someone gets it." The Loox says, and after his attack he is available to spare.

Harmony cautiously steps towards a Vegetoid. "Guys, there's some sort of carrot in my room..."

"Mine too." Ethan pokes the Vegetoid with his gloved hand. Bad idea.

Both of them go into a battle with the two Vegetoids.

"Wait... devour? I want to try that." Ethan is about to click the button when Harmony shouts across, "Wait! Don't do it!"

"But I'm hungry!"

"But it's a sentient being! Besides, you don't like vegetables!" She sighs, shaking her head like she did earlier.

"We're like, twenty feet Underground, or something, Harmony. I'll take what I can get."

Emily yells across from her room. "Isn't Toriel making us something?!"

"I'm hungry now!" Ethan protests as Harmony presses dinner.

"Just press dinner! You get something out of that!" Harmony manages to spare the Vegetoid with 10 HP.

"You're no fun!" Ethan pouts as he does what she says and gets to spare it.

"It appears the switch is in my room." Ivan tells everyone flatly. He wants to observe a monster. He almost sounds disappointed. Almost. He flips it and the spikes disappear up above.

Everyone gets out of their rooms and back above. They enter the next room for a new puzzle. There are a bunch of pillars with switches behind them or next to them.

Ethan groans. "This is why I hate puzzles."

"Come on, Ethan. This must be one of the last ones, right?" Harmony gives him the best reassuring smile she can, but the amount of puzzles are starting to get on her nerves.

"I don't know." Ethan bangs his head into the wall.

Emily walks on, while Harmony drags the unhappy Ethan with them. She points to more spikes that are gone. "This one's already done."

They stroll into the next room and press the buttons, frustrated as they keep getting sent back a few rooms. Ivan reads a sign on the wall as they continue to try.

"If you are reading this, press the blue button." He reads aloud slowly. Everyone freezes and slowly turns their heads to him. Harmony walks over and presses it. "Hey! It works!"

Ivan facepalms.

Aiden is busy fighting two Looxes when she says this. "That's neat."

They enter the next room when Aiden finishes fighting the monsters. There is once again a sign blending in with the wall that says to press a certain button.

Ethan dashes over in hopes that this is the last puzzle and presses it. A clicking sound is heard and the spikes disappeared. Ethan, excited, skips down the path. Harmony runs after him. Aiden follows them quickly. They turn to the left and then Toriel is standing not too far away.

A vibration is heard from Aiden's pocket, and Toriel looks up and sees that all of them are there. She puts her phone back in her pocket and blinks. "My children... you are here. Are you hurt?"

Everyone shakes their heads. Toriel lets out a sigh of relief.

"I should not have left you alone for so long." Aiden turns around and sticks his tongue out at Tessa. She sighs, but puts her attention back to Toriel. Emily snickers at this. "It was irresponsible to try to surprise you like this... er... well, I suppose I cannot hide it from you all any longer. Come, my children."

* * *

.:TESSA:.

Aiden follows her into her house. Ethan immediately jumps up when he smells pie. "Is that... FOOD?!"

Toriel laughs and ruffles his hair affectionately. "Surprise! It's butterscotch-cinnamon pie!"

Ethan's eyes widen. "PIE?! Even better!" Harmony giggles at his enthusiasm.

"I thought we could celebrate your arrival." Toriel tells them, a gentle smile on her face.

"Thank you, Toriel." Harmony grins at her sweetly. "This is very nice of you!"

"Yeah, thank you Mom- I-I mean, Toriel." Tessa gives a crooked smile. Her heart sinks a little on the inside. Would Toriel mind that she called her Mom?

"Of course, Harmony, and you are welcome, Tessa." Toriel's heart seems to crack a little at hearing someone call her mom.

Aiden cheers along with Emily, as Ethan runs around Harmony, excited for pie. Harmony shakes her head at his antics, but laughs. Ethan often amused her.

"I want you all to have a nice time living here. So I will hold off on snail pie tonight."

Everyone gags.

"Snail pie?" Harmony asks, crinkling her nose but trying her best to respect that.

"I would eat it." Aiden stretches, causing Tessa to roll her eyes.

"Sure you would. Sure you would." Tessa looks skeptical and crosses her arms. She plays with her toy knife.

Ethan gave Toriel a crooked smile and a thumbs up. "S-Sounds great..."

Ivan takes notes on this behavior.

Toriel continues, not minding their reactions. "Here, I have another surprise for you."

She walks away and everyone follows. She stops in front of a door. "This is it... a room for you to have and call your own."

Everyone looks in awe, but something slowly burns in Aiden. They need to leave, not stay.

"Is something burning...? Um, make yourself at home!" Toriel dashes off.

"This is nice and all, but we need to get going, guys." Aiden whispers.

"We don't have to... not yet, anyways." Tessa tells him. She doesn't want to leave. She wants to stay, she doesn't want to risk losing her life.

Ethan nods in agreement to what Aiden says. "We need to get home." He whispers back.

"We have to... but we should stay for today." Harmony tells them.

Emily offers a thumbs up, and Ivan, still holding onto his notebook, agrees.

Tessa crosses her arms, but doesn't say anything. Aiden looks at her curiously. He'd have to talk to her later. They walk into the room and there's a bed, along with a bunch of blankets on the floor and some pillows. Ethan immediately dives for the bed. "I CALL THE BED!"

Everyone groans, but lets him have it. Toriel calls them out for pie, and they all look amazed at the sight of it. Everyone takes a bite, and absolutely loves it. Toriel makes enough for them to all have two slices. She didn't know how much they'd eat, but everyone saves a slice for later. Ethan wants to eat both, but everyone stops him. Toriel then all tells them it's bedtime and they head off into the room. None of them are tired, so they decide to play a lot of games.

Ethan is still energetic when they finally are tired, so Harmony throws a pillow at his face. He gasps, but then gets an idea. He hits her with his own pillow and they start having a pillow fight. Everyone else groans and tries to cover their ears, except for Tessa, who watches because she refuses to sleep.

Eventually, Harmony admits defeat to her best friend, and proudly, he falls asleep right then and there. Tessa gets up quietly and walks out of the door.

"Should someone go after her?" Aiden questions, but everyone else is asleep. He gets to his feet and follows her.

Tessa leans against one of the walls outside of the home. She stares at the wall, fiddling with the toy knife in her hands. Aiden slides down next to her silently.

"Tess... are you alright?" He asks quietly, his tone full of concern.

"I... I want..." Her voice is small, but she stops speaking. Aiden wouldn't understand anyways, would he?

"What do you want, Tessa? There may be a way I can help you." He says softly, all of his attention on her.

"I want to stay here." Her voice sounds a bit more firm.

"What about your family? They'll miss you. We can't stay here, Tess. We can't."

Her voice is shaky. "I-I don't want to leave... I don't want to get back to home..."

Aiden sighs, but waits and listens. "Tessa..." His voice trails off.

She sniffles, a tear falling off of her cheek and sinking into the ground. "I'm going to die out there, Aiden. I'm going to die."

"W-What? Tessa, where is this even coming from?" He puts a hand on her shoulder. His hair is slightly tousled, for his hat isn't on.

"You heard me. I've been thinking about it. I can't survive out there. I'll die. I can't fight anything. I'm not... you."

"Dang it, Tessa! You aren't going to die, you hear me?" He nearly shouts protectively and she looks startled.

"How would you know?" She questions, still upset.

He sighs, taking his voice back to a normal volume. "I promise you this, Tessa. You and everyone else will get to the surface, even if it means I end up dying, alright?"

She brushes away her tears. "D-Do you

really mean it? You'll give up your life if it comes down to it?"

He grins. "For you guys? I wouldn't regret it."

Maybe Aiden isn't as annoying as she thinks. She finds the strength to smile right back at him.

* * *

 **QOTD: Are you all enjoying this? Am I going too fast? Too slow?**

 **THANKS TO MY SISTER FOR BEING SANS**

 **OH MY MARKUS!**


	5. Toriel’s Goodbye

**Before we begin, May I say that I do not own Undertale, nor the idea of GroupTale. The only thing I own are the human SOULS (not them in general, the characters I mean), and that this chapter may be extremely boring for others. Anyways, if you don't want to read Toriel's farewell, you should at least read the final paragraph. This chapter is extremely short, so I'm sorry. Let's just get on with the chapter.**

CHAPTER FOUR

.:HARMONY:.

It's early in the morning when everyone wakes. Slowly, everyone wakes up. Harmony is the first to wake up, for she is an "early bird." Ethan, however, is not. He snores as Harmony gets up and out of the room.

"Up already, I see." Toriel has glasses on and holds a book in her hand, but she looks over at Harmony.

Harmony smiles at her. "Yep. I'm the early bird of the group."

Toriel chuckles at this. "I get up quite early too, my child."

Harmony tries to keep smiling. She is rather attached to Toriel, and she doesn't want to leave her, but she knows she will have to. "That's cool! I usually have to get up early for my ballet lessons!"

Toriel thinks for a moment, a confused expression on her face. "What is 'ballet?'"

Harmony gasps. "You've never heard of ballet?"

"No... would you please explain it to me?"

"I can do better than that!" Harmony grins at her. "I can show it to you!"

"Show it?" Toriel asks and Harmony explains to her what it is. She then does her newest ballet routine. Slowly, the other SOULS begin to wake up and walk in. They don't interrupt, they just watch. Ethan is probably the most excited out of all of them. He has seen the most of her recitals because he has been friends with her the longest. He finds the recitals boring, but loves supporting his friends in anyway possible, so he sucks it up.

Something out of this brings back a memory to all of them. A few nights before they fell, they all got together to watch the recital. Harmony wasn't as afraid to perform when she had seen her friends cheering on.

Toriel is intrigued as she watches and unexpectedly, Harmony trips over a loose floorboard and crashes to the ground. A deep cut forms on her arm, and she bit her tongue to stop herself from crying out in pain.

Toriel watches her life flash before her eyes and immediately gets up, seeing her hurt and rushes to the kitchen. Harmony gets back up and tries to brush it off like it's nothing, but everyone knows that she is a terrible liar. Toriel puts some bandages on her arm.

Ethan looks worried, so he pulls some monster candy out of his pocket. "...would some candy help?" He asks, offering one to her. She laughs quietly at this and nods. He gives her the piece and then eats one himself.

Emily starts to wonder if this is the best time to be shipping them, so she keeps to herself.

Toriel sits back down. "What is the point of ballet? To get hurt?" She seems to have a disapproving look on her face.

"Technically, you could get hurt from anything." Ivan's glasses nearly fall off.

Toriel lets out a gasp of horror.

Harmony looks surprised, and she shoots a glare at Ivan. "No, no! That's not the point. It's a type of dancing."

Toriel just pats her head. "If that is what makes you happy, I will support you. I want you all to know how glad I am to have you all here. There are so many old books I want to share. I've also prepared a curriculum for your education."

Ethan sighs, knowing how hard it would be to tell her they couldn't stay. Toriel continues, "This may come as a surprise to you... but I have always wanted to be a teacher. Actually, perhaps that isn't very surprising." She chuckles. "Still, I am glad to have you all living here."

Aiden then speaks up, his tone serious. "How do we leave the Ruins?"

Toriel inhales. "I have to do something. Stay here." She quickly gets up and walks down the stairs.

Ethan rushes after her quickly. Harmony dashes after him, Emily following. Ivan looks up from his notebook and shuts it, yawning as he follows her. Tessa doesn't look that phased and Aiden grabs her arm. "Come on!"

They all follow her downstairs.

"Children... please go back upstairs." She keeps walking down the path and everyone follows her.

"You all wish to return 'home' so badly? I am just trying to protect you. Go upstairs."

Ethan shakes his head. "We can't stay." For once, he's not being a complete goofball.

"The reason I want you to stay is because I want to help you learn and grow in a positive environment! The rest of the Underground is dangerous. If you leave, I cannot follow you. I protect this place. If I leave, there is no telling what could happen to the Ruins."

"There's six of us! We'll make it through! Safety in numbers, right?" Tessa asks, trying to grin at her.

Toriel still looks hesitant. "I suppose you're right, but you have to be careful."

"Careful is my middle name!" Aiden reassures. Somehow, he isn't very reassuring at all.

"If you need anything, call me. I can make arrangements for protection, alright?" Somewhere, somehow, they could hear a sneeze from a very chubby skeleton **(Sans: "hey! i'm not chubby, i'm just big boned!").**

"Alright!" All the SOULS tackle hug her. She can just smile sadly and laugh a little. "Goodbye, my children."

Toriel starts walking away, and before she turns down the path home, she gives one last, longing glance, before she turns down the path and walks away. Aiden sighs sadly and pushes against the door. With everyone else's help, it opens.

They walk forward and Flowey pops up. Ethan huffs and leaps at it, but Harmony holds him back. "Clever. Verrrryyy clever. You all think you're very smart don't you? Well anyways, in this world, it's kill or be killed!" He laughs maniacally and then disappears.

"You should've let me kill him." Ethan growls at Harmony.

She narrows her eyes. "We're pacifists, remember?"

He doesn't respond, but pushes against the door. It opens, and all that is seen is snow. Snow kicks up as they push through it.

"I can't see anything!" Harmony tries shielding her eyes as the snow blows harder **(a/n: yes this is Underground but I wanted a snowstorm so yeah)**. Aiden tries to look around. "Try to grab someone's arm!" He shouts, loud enough for them to hear. "Or attempt to!"

Harmony grabs onto Ethan's arm, and he yelps, but then realizes it's Harmony and calms down. Ivan gets a hold of Emily's hand and Tessa finds Aiden's hand.

The pairs SOULS scatter as they try to push through the snow.

Eventually, they all pass out.


	6. Now Things Just Got Interesting

**So Snowdin will be confusing. All three pairs are in different places by will run through all of the places in the game. But pretend the path stuff and puzzles aren't going one way (so puzzles may be on separate paths when they explore so they don't overlap or are just repeating the same puzzles). Either way, enjoy.**

 **Kudos to TearByMoonlight :D**

 **Ship Ethanony away, everyone.**

CHAPTER FIVE

 _Frisk was never the biggest fan of puzzles. But she knew she'd have to complete them when she met Papyrus. In her first run, she had no idea what she was doing or had gotten into. That would always give Chara a good laugh when she didn't know how to spare monsters correctly. That never really happened anymore, however. Frisk still was just trying to complete one goal, one which she never could complete. That was why she kept doing resets. This run, well, this run was different. She didn't think it would really make a difference on the outcome, really. She was actually interested to meet the other SOULS. Maybe she'd wait for them in Waterfall. Yeah, that could work. She decided that after getting through all of the puzzles, sparing Papyrus, and the date, she would wait at the beginning of Waterfall. Chara decided it was best to not voice his opinion. Who knows, maybe he could become friends with them. He already was with Frisk. He didn't know why Frisk kept resetting. That was the one thing she never told him. But he decided not to question it. After all, why would he question Frisk's judgement if Asriel never questioned his?_

.:ETHAN:.

All of them end up scattered. Well, sort of. When Ethan wakes up, he realizes he's holding Harmony's hand. He immediately pulls away. Why was she holding his hand? Or more so, why was he holding her hand? He looks around. The others are no where to be found. It sucks, but at least he's with Harmony. Harmony always has been the person who he could truly talk to without sounding like a complete maniac. That was why he liked hanging around her. He could trust her, she could trust him.

Ethan didn't like his parents, and still doesn't. They never paid as much attention to him as he needed, but he got way too much attention at school. He had shut down so many people who asked him out. He knew that they only liked him because he was rich. He didn't really think being rich was great. He never found happiness with money, surprisingly enough. He always found it with his friends. He can't worry about that now. He isn't on the surface anymore. It has only just hit him that he's trapped with monsters. And all of his best friends are down below with him. Other people he would have to protect.

He sits up, adjusting his bandanna which is extremely crooked. He looks around. They seem to be in the forest. Interesting. It's a miracle neither of them have frostbite. He waits as patiently as possible for her to wake up. Luckily, he builds a fire from wood. Heat is number one, right?

"Please, Harmony..." He mutters after a while, still trying his best to keep the fire going. Her eyes eventually flutter open. Ethan let out a sigh of relief.

"Ethan?" She yawns, stretching before sitting up. "Where are we?"

Ethan looks around. It was just a snowy forest. "I believe we are on the ground, but we are Underground."

Harmony punches his shoulder lightly. "Well, yes. I gathered that."

He pretends to be hurt. He falls backwards into the snow.

Harmony rolls her eyes and gets up. "It's really cold here." She is shivering, but wearing long pants and a tutu. However, she has a short sleeved top on. She didn't bother to put on her leotard before she fell, apparently, though she is wearing her ballet shoes. Her pretty auburn hair was done up in a neat bun, but it is now rather messy from the fall.

"It really is. I made a fire, but it didn't warm me up as well as I would have liked." Ethan, however, is wearing casual navy shorts and an orange T-shirt. He has on black tennis shoes and his orange gloves, which match his eyes perfectly, along with his bandanna strung around his head. His light brown hair is very messy, as it always is. When first seeing Ethan and Harmony next to each other, you wouldn't be able to guess that they are best friends.

"That's nice." She nods as Ethan gets up too.

He looks around. "Hm..." He starts walking away and Harmony just follows him around, as always. The two continue down the path. They got to a two path intersection with a box. A magic box, to be specific. Harmony pretty much forces Ethan to put at least some of the candy in there. They then encounter a Snowdrake. That scares the living daylights out of Harmony.

Harmony doesn't know how to deal with it. She presses ACT. "Er... joke, laugh, or heckle?"

"Heckle!" Ethan exclaims and Harmony shrugs. "Alright." She clicks it before insulting the Snowdrake. "You aren't funny...?"

Ethan put one of his gloves over his eyes. "Come on, say it like you mean it!"

She nods and then turns back to the Snowdrake. "You aren't funny!"

"That's it!" Ethan cheers. Wow, who knew that one day, Ethan, the one who saved Harmony from insults, would be the one encouraging the insults.

The Snowdrake sneers, spiting insults back at her. Harmony dodges the attack as best as possible. She then jokes, making a terrible ice pun.

"It's very n-ice out here, isn't it?" Harmony isn't a big fan of puns, but Ethan is. He starts laughing. That one is

terrible, but she is trying. He looks proud and she sighs.

"'Ice' to meet you." Snowdrake says, causing Harmony to groan. Ethan would've elbowed her if she wasn't in a battle. She presses laugh, and forces herself to.

"See?! Laughs! Dad was wrong!" The Snowdrake looks smug and Harmony spares it.

"You made a very terrible pun!" Ethan exclaims excitedly. "You never do that!"

"And I never will again." She sighs.

Ethan pouts as the two continue forward. Footsteps are heard quietly from behind them. Harmony freezes when the steps stop and the figure is behind them. Ethan, however, turns around. "Oh, no need to worry. Just a skeleton."

The skeleton is leaning against the too wide bars across the bridge. "heya, kiddos. didn't expect to see more of ya."

Harmony blinks. "You've seen more humans? Where?"

"ah... just one. you know her? name's frisk."

"No... strange... she was never with us..."

"huh. makes sense why she saw me so much earlier than you guys."

"Anyways, my name's Harmony, what's yours?"

Ethan jumps up. "And I'm Ethan!"

"huh. those are cool names. name's sans. sans the skeleton."

"Uh... thanks. Hello, Sans. Where are we exactly?"

"you're in what we like to call 'the underground' but this part specifically is called snowdin. you know, since it's really _chili_." He held out a bowl of chili.

"NO!" Harmony groans, while Ethan cheers, "YES!"

"Anyways, where'd you get the bowl of chili?" Harmony then asks.

"ancient skeleton secret."

"What's that even supposed to mean?"

"i don't know. if you figure it out though, call me."

"That doesn't even make any sense. Is there a certain path we can go down?"

"oh. uh, yeah. this one. my bro made theses bars too wide to stop any human. or monster, for that matter. oh, and he'll probably show up any second. he'll want to capture you, but i don't think he'll actually end up doing that."

The two continue on and see the skeleton from earlier with another, taller skeleton. Harmony and Ethan exchange a glance.

"Sans! There you are you lazybones!" A taller skeleton runs up to him and apparently doesn't notice the humans.

Sans can't help but chuckle. They've had this conversation many times.

"All you do is wander around! Could you actually do your job for once!" He stomps his foot angrily.

"i don't know, could i?"

"SANS!"

"alright, alright, i could, I'm just... too lazy to. sleeping is more productive then my job."

"Sans, you know that's untrue!"

"ehhhhhhhhhhhhh." Sans just shrugs. He doesn't really care.

"Hi!" Ethan exclaims and waves his hand.

The taller skeleton looks back and forth between them and his brother. Harmony blinks, confused, and Ethan looks excited. The two skelebros keep looking at each other and the two humans constantly, until finally they stop and are both looking at the humans. They then turn their backs to them, as if they won't be able to hear their conversation if they aren't facing them.

"Oh my gosh!" He then whispers to Sans, "Is... is that two humans?"

"i don't know, is it?"

"Sans!"

"whaaaaaaaaaat?"

"Stop being difficult, Sans!"

"sorry paps, guess i'm a _numb_ skull."

"SANS ENOUGH WITH THE PUNS! Are those humans or not?"

"You tell him taller skeleton dude!" Harmony exclaims.

"do you remember frisk, paps?"

"Yes! My first date!"

"I thought you didn't want to talk about that?"

"I DON'T!"

"don't they kind of look like frisk?"

"Oh my gosh! Sans, I finally did it! AGAIN! I found MORE humans! I can't mess this up this time!"

Sans slow clapped. "good job bro, i'm proud of you."

He then clears his throat. "...Humans! You shall not pass this area! I, the Great Papyrus, am going to stop you! I will capture you! You will be taken to Undyne! Then! Then... um... then you... I'm not actually sure what happens next! Continue, only if you dare! Nyeh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh!" The skeleton with the red scarf speeds off before Harmony can say anything.

Sans turns to the two. "that went well. don't sweat it, kiddos. i'll keep an eye socket out for ya."

Ethan and Harmony look at each other. That was... strange...

There is a post and Ethan goes to read the sign, only before an Icecap struts forward and they enter a fight.

"WOW! That's a great hat!" Ethan exclaims enthusiastically.

"Envious? TOO BAD!" The Icecap shouts before sending icicles at him. Ethan frowns, but he dodges as best as he can. He then clicks ignore and turns away. It looks extremely annoyed.

Another attack is sent at him. Harmony cheers him on. "Come on! You've got this!"

He feels more encouraged by that and keeps his eyes away from Icecap's hat. It looks defeated, but sends another attack. He dodges and spares it.

They decide to keep walking. A dog pops up, hearing something moving. He launches into a battle with Harmony. Harmony attempts to do the only other option than check: pet.

Harmony tries to pet Doggo, but it's too suspicious of her movements. He barks at her and she pulls her hand away. "Don't move an inch!" He sends a blue sword at her and she doesn't move. No damage. Harmony selects pet again and Doggo freaks out.

"WHAT! I'VE BEEN PET!" Doggo send another sword at her as he questions, "PAT? POT? PET?"

Harmony sighs when the attack ends and spares him.

Ethan's already walking ahead without her, so she runs to catch up with him. Oh. Sans again.

"hey, kids, here's something important to remember. my brother has a very special attack. if you see a blue attack, don't move and it won't hurt you. here's an easy way to help keep it in mind. imagine a stop sign. when you see a stop sign, you stop, right?"

Harmony nods and Ethan looks like he's about to disagree, but Harmony glares at him to keep quiet and he does.

"and i bet you two know stop signs are red. so imagine a blue stop sign instead. simple, right? when you're fighting, think about blue stop signs." Sans then disappears.

Harmony frowns as the two continue on. Ethan gets into a battle with Lesser Dog. "LET'S GO DOGGIE!" He yells, looking at anything he can do in the ACT button. All of the options are pet. He lifts his hand and Lesser Dog gets excited. An attack is sent at him. A little, fluffy, white dog, which even Harmony thinks is harmless, leaps at Ethan's SOUL. His HP drops, but it's his turn. He spares it and looks excited. "That was fun!"

Harmony laughs as they walk on. "I'm sure it was."

An ice cream man has a said expression on his face. "I don't understand why these aren't selling. It's the perfect weather for something nice and cold..."

Harmony blinks as Ethan jumps up. "I love ice cream!"

The guy opens an eye and then has a happier expression. "OH! A CUSTOMER!"

"Hello." Harmony waves as Ethan jumps around.

"Hello! Would you like some nice cream! It's a frozen treat that will warm your heart! Now just 15 G!"

Ethan turns to Harmony excitedly. "Can we get some! Please?! I just need to borrow a few G!"

Harmony sighs, amused, as she expected this. "You can have some nice cream, alright?"

"Yay!" He cheers as she hands him some money. He buys the ice cream and then runs around. Harmony walks around and sees to sentry posts. She reads them to herself. "His and Hers? What does that mean?" She ponders this to herself as she walks back to Ethan. Ethan finishes his nice cream pretty fast, because hey, he's Ethan. The two walk on, only to see Sans and Papyrus again.

"HUMANS! I hope you're ready..." He looks around. "SANS! Where's the puzzle?"

"it's right there." He points to a piece of paper on the ground. "don't worry, paps. there's no way they can get past this one."

Harmony and Ethan slowly walk forward to look. Harmony bends over and picks it up. "...A word search?"

"SANS! What's that even supposed to do? A word search?"

"welp. i knew i should have used today's crossword instead."

"What?! Crossword?! I can't believe you said that! In my opinion, Junior Jumble is easily the hardest."

"really dude? that easy-peasy word scramble created for babybones?"

Papyrus narrowed his eye sockets. "Un. Believable." He turns to Ethan and Harmony, who were just standing there. "Humans! Help solve this dispute!"

Harmony didn't want to upset Papyrus, for she also knew Sans wanted her to also appease his brother.

"Junior Jumble...?" Harmony answers slowly. She's a terrible liar.

"Crossword!" Ethan exclaims, somehow knowing the answer.

Apparently Papyrus couldn't tell Harmony was lying. "You two are weird! This human knows their stuff! They are obviously very intelligent if they know Junior Jumble is harder!" Papyrus turns around and dashes off.

"I can't believe he couldn't tell you were lying." Ethan snickers as he whispers to Harmony. She elbows him, unamused. "You know I hate lying."

"oh. by the way kid, thanks for saying 'junior jumble' just to appease my brother. yesterday he got stumped trying to 'solve' the horoscope."

Harmony nods, "Um... yeah. I don't really like lying and I'm pretty terrible at it, so I though he'd find it pretty obvious..."

Sans offers a shrug before disappearing. Harmony and Ethan continue walking, trees surrounding them (a/n: please just roll with the trees in this part). Harmony hears a sound and jumps up.

Ethan yawns, turning to look at her. "Don't worry about it, Harmony. It's just a noise."

She looks frightened, but continues walking alongside him. Eventually, the footsteps beside Ethan stop. "Harmony, I said-" Two cloaked dogs lifted their axes from in front of her.

"Look out!" She shouts as they both his his SOUL with their axes. He's thrown into a tree. His HP drops significantly.

He pretty much left his best friend to fight two monsters in perfect sync.

Great. Just great.

* * *

 **QOTD: How do you guys like Ethan and Harmony in this chapter? I finally got to focus on more differences between them.**

 **OH MY MARKUS!**


	7. FILE 3: LOADING

**This chapter is not normal. Well, it's not relating to the kiddos Underground... at the very least. It's about Ethan's backstory. Because I've been lagging behind on my latest chapter.**

 **THIS IS NOT A CHAPTER! Or won't count as one anyways.**

* * *

 _Ethan never was the smartest kid at school. But he was one of the most popular, so that must've counted for something, right? Wrong. Being popular was terrible for Ethan. It was mainly because he was probably the richest kid in the school. Big house, big pool, and lots of money. Not only did his parents want to choose his friends, they wanted to choose his whole life. Ethan hated that. Were his parents interested in meeting Harmony? Yes. But he didn't want them to judge her. He invited Harmony over one day because his parents pretty much forced him to. He was very intimidated by his parents, actually. The only thing he knew how to do was obey them. He had been keeping his friendship with Harmony a secret for a little over a month. His parents only found out because they saw him say goodbye to her as he was getting picked up from school; unfortunately, he couldn't fib with his parents. He wouldn't be able to lie to them without admitting the truth a few minutes later._

 _Interrupting his thoughts, the doorbell rang. Ethan bit his lip and walked over. He opened it. "Hey, Harmony." He intended for his voice to be much stronger than it was._

 _"Hey, Ethan!" She waved her hand as he escorted her in._

 _Something was going to go wrong. Really wrong. Ethan took her to his parents, who were seated on the couch. The conversation went really well. Or at least, Ethan thought it did. As soon as his friend left, his parents told him that he was not to associate with her. They said she wasn't one of the 'right friends' that they wanted him to make. He wanted to tell his parents that Harmony was a really great person and that he thought she was a great friend, but did as they said. He couldn't defy them, no matter how brave he was. The next day, Ethan walked over to Harmony._

 _"Ethan! Hey!" She smiled at him, but he averted eye contact. They had only been friends one month, right? So why was it hard for Ethan to flat out tell her they couldn't be friends anymore?_

 _"I... I can't be friends with you anymore, Harmony." He sighed, forcing to speak._

 _"B-But... I don't understand..." She frowned, her voice shaking. Her eyes instantly went dull and she even take a step back._

 _"I-I just can't." He didn't know how much he had truly hurt Harmony at saying that._

 _"Ah... I understand..." She closed her eyes, laughing quietly to herself._

 _"You do?" He asked, relieved that there wouldn't be any hard feelings._

 _"We were never true friends in the first place, were we?" She turned away from him. Her voice wasn't bitter at all, it was just upset. After all, she was thinking about how stupid she was to think that he'd actually be friends with her for more than a week, let alone a month._

 _"W-What?! No!" Harmony was the first friend he had ever made that wasn't forced. She was the only true friend he had. The only friend he needed to have._

 _"Then why do you think we shouldn't be friends anymore?" She questioned, not even giving him enough time to reply when she turned around and walks away._

 _"Harmony, I-"_

 _But she was already gone._

 _Ethan stood there, dumbfounded._

 _He has just lost the one person who actually understood him._

 _And it was all his fault._

* * *

 _The next day, Ethan walked into the school. One of his 'friends' jumped up next to him. "Hey, E, where's that friend of yours?"_

 _Ethan didn't reply. Though it was pretty obvious that he had ditched her._

 _"Dude, you got rid of her? Score!" He held his hand up for a high five. Ethan shoved it down._

 _"Aren't you glad? She was following you around for a month! I would've gotten rid of her the first chance I got!"_

 _Ethan didn't like this conversation. He didn't like this person disrespecting Harmony that way. Harmony wasn't following him around. He liked going everywhere with her for the short time they were friends. If anything, he was following her around. He stopped dead in his tracks. "Stop it." He commanded, staring this kid straight in the eyes as Harmony slowly walked past them. He could feel his blood begin to boil, clenching and unclenching his fist._

 _"Heya, it must suck to lose your only friend!" The guy called to her. She froze. Ethan knew how much that had stung her. His eyes blazed as he grabbed the boy by the shoulder._

 _"I SAID STOP!" Ethan shouted at him, digging his nails into his shoulder, "Get. Lost."_

 _He snickered at this, not bothered by Ethan's reaction, "E, what's the point in protecting a loser?"_

 _Ethan hated that. Without thinking rationally, he slapped the boy across the face. Harmony's face was hidden from her books, but she saw that bit where Ethan slapped someone. Why? Ethan never got mad at someone like that. And to the point where he slapped him across the face? That only confused her more. Why did he stand up for her? He was the one that broke off all ties, so why did it matter what others said about her? She was still confused, but didn't want to get caught up in all of the drama and scurried away._

* * *

 _Ethan this, Ethan that!_

 _Obviously, Ethan was being scolded for slapping someone. He had gotten in huge trouble, yes, but his parents decided to ground him. No one actually knew why he did it._

 _But he did._

 _He didn't want to engage himself in a conversation in the first place. It wasn't his fault that he brought up Harmony and completely disrespected her. The whole school was talking about it now. Some thought he was being brave. The others thought he was being downright stupid._

 _Harmony didn't know what to think of it. She was still trying to decipher why he did it in the first place. He acted like he cared, but then he told her he didn't want to be friends? She was completely conflicted and unable to understand._

 _Maybe she'd ask when his suspension was over._

 _Ethan arrived at school the next day. There was Harmony, standing in the distance of him. She seemed to be staring, so she tore her eyes away from him. Ethan, however, found himself approaching her._

 _"Why?" She asked quietly, looking down. She looked at his shoes. The same black shoes he wore always, of course._

 _"Why what?" He blinked as if he didn't know what she was talking about._

 _"You could've just let that guy make fun of me. I wouldn't have minded."_

 _"It bothered me. No one disrespects my friends that way." He shrugged, not minding the people that were watching the exchange._

 _"I-I thought you established that we weren't friends..." She nearly whispered._

 _"About that. I didn't mean that. Any of that. I couldn't do that and mean it even if I tried. The thing is, I had to do that because my parents... they make all of my choices for me. And yes, it hurts, but they're just trying to decide what's best for me, right?"_

 _Harmony finally looked up at him, her voice clearer, "You think your parents ruining friendships is what's best for you?" She seemed to believe that his parents would make him do such a thing. He thought for a moment, unable to reply._

 _"I... I'll talk to them about it, okay?" He held his hand out for her to shake. "But we're all cool now, right?"_

 _She shook it, and a smile finally spread across her face. "Definitely."_

* * *

 _Welp. Today was the day._

 _Ethan's parents had found out that he had disobeyed them and continued being friends with Harmony, and they began to scold him again._

 _"Ethan, haven't we told you before that we're making good decisions for you?" His mother's stare was just as cold as his father's. He suddenly wasn't half as intimdated._

 _He simply nodded, his eyes flashing. Something was... going on. He was feeling something deep inside of him. Suddenly, he had felt something that gave him enough courage to stand up to his parents, "No... you don't." He finally said._

 _His mother scoffed. "Excuse me?"_

 _Ethan stood up. He clenched his fist. "When have you ever given me the chance to make my own decisions? You haven't." His voice was sharp and his eyes were narrowed to slits._

 _"Well, that's because you'll end up making the wrong one." His father replied simply._

 _"I want to make my own decisions. I'm not a puppet. I've been letting this go on for too long." He announced, folding his arms as he stared._

 _"Ethan, dear, don't be ridiculous. If you made your own decisions, you would end up like... them." His mother made emphasis and even a disgusted voice when she said "them."_

 _"Them? What do you mean by that?" He lowered his guard a little, genuinely confused._

 _"The kids like that girl you hung around with, what was her name, Harmony? Either way, did you see what her decisions did for her? She's unable to make friends like that. That's the main reason we don't want you associating with her. She's messing with your head." She went to ruffle his hair, but he pulled away._

 _Ethan didn't back down. He clenched his fist tighter. "If I end up like that, then oh well! Harmony didn't do anything! Besides, even if she did, I'd rather end up like that, than the two of you!"_

 _The whole room went silent at Ethan's words._

 _Both of his parents were appalled at that. Ethan was shocked himself. He had never felt so much bravery in his life. He looked... proud of himself. That was enough, wasn't it? He loosened and straightened, grinning. He was finally in control._

 _From that moment forward, Ethan got to make his own decisions._

 _It was a mistake to fall down Mt. Ebott by deciding to follow Aiden and Ivan, but he just decided it happened for a reason._

 _Everything was good, with just a little bravery._

* * *

 **Did you like it?**

 **QOTD: Is there a certain character you'd like me to expand more upon (I know Ivan is underdeveloped)?**

 **OH MY MARKUS, as always.**


	8. PUZZLESSSSSSSSSS!

**Well, it's been a while guys... I'm sorry about that. Life got busy. That's my only excuse. I hope you all are still with me. If you ever want to leave a review or pm, I'd definitely appreciate the support :P.**

 **Why do I shippppppppp everything...**

 **Not Ivan and Emily... yet... but I've just had so many ideas for Ethan and Harmony. I like that ship too much.**

 **As a heads up, Sans may be a bit OOC this chapter. Either that or no chapter for today! (CharaAndBlue helped me write him and told me to give you a warning)**

 **Enough with my rambling. Without further ado, Chapter Six!**

 **CHAPTER SIX**

 **.:IVAN:.**

Ivan slowly opens his eyes. His vision is so blurry that he can't see anything. Where is his glasses? He doesn't scramble around to look, he just sits up and looks around emotionlessly. Emily is sitting against a tree and holds them out to him.

He takes them quickly and puts them on, breathing. "Thank you." He looks around for his notebook and sees it is slightly buried in the snow. He digs it out and holds it close to him.

"So, we should get going, huh?" She asks as Ivan adjusts his glasses.

"Yes. That would be ideal." He agrees in his usual, monotone voice. The two walk down a path, a sentry station in their path. There's a sleeping skeleton with his arms crossed and his head resting on his arms. Ivan pushes up his glasses and walks over. "Fascinating..." He opens up his notebook to draw his discovery.

"Ivan, what are you doing? He's going to wake up and kill you!" Emily whispers.

"I have to draw this..." He murmurs, sketching the skeleton. The skeleton slowly opens an eye. "oh. heya."

"Interesting..." He writes something down along the lines of, "So a skeleton can talk..."

Emily blinks, surprised and confused. "What?"

"what were you expecting, some dead guy?"

"Uh, yeah."

"welp. this could be good or bad new then. i'm a magical skeleton. not dead."

"Define 'magical'" She sounds slightly confused.

"i have magical abilities. uh, how else was i supposed to explain that?"

"Oh, so you mean a legit magical skeleton." Emily looks as if she understands now

"that's what i said...? i mean, why would i say something i didn't mean?"

"Sorry about her." Ivan adjusts his glasses. "We're not from around here."

"um, yeah. i noticed."

"So... who are you?" Emily asks politely.

"sans. sans the comic."

"The comic?"

"yeah. because i tell a lot of jokes and puns."

"Oh... that's neat... I guess..."

"so... what are kids like you doing underground?"

"I wanted to find out more about Mt. Ebott." Ivan explains.

"And when he went missing I followed him." Emily adds.

"oh. cool. well, you kiddos are in snowdin. my bro is gonna come soon. he's on patrol for humans." The skeleton shrugs.

Emily blinks with a slight shudder. "If he's on a patrol, what does he do...?"

"he wants to capture a human, but don't worry. he's harmless."

"Oh, okay." She nods.

"he's gonna he here soon, but i can get you two to the town now if ya want." He offers.

"No, we're looking for some friends." Emily shakes her head.

"suit yourselves."

Before they can respond, a skeleton can be seen in the distance. He is wearing a red scarf and is taller than Sans. This must've been Sans's brother.

"hey bro." Sans grins at his brother. Papyrus is getting closer to the trio, but he doesn't hear Sans.

"Where do we go?" Emily asks as calmly as possible.

"quick, get behind those conveniently shaped lamps." Sans points to the lamps.

Emily dives behind one, while Ivan just walks over to get behind one. He pushes up his glasses, skeptical that this will actually work.

Sans turns to his brother, who is still running towards him.

Papyrus skids to a halt. "Sans! You haven't recalibrated your puzzles in days!"

"oh, sorry bro. i kept forgetting. plus, i'm too much of a lazybones to go and do that." He shrugs, putting his hands in his pockets.

Papyrus stomps his foot angrily. "SANS!"

"hey paps. didn't you want to catch some humans? maybe those lamps will help?"

"Sans, those lamps won't help me capture more humans!" Papyrus folds his arms.

"are you sure? anything can be helpful."

"Stop talking about the stupid lamps, Sans!"

Sans shrugs. "alright. do you wanna double check your puzzles? another human may just come through."

Papyrus taps his chin. "That's a great idea, Sans!"

"yeah. maybe you should check the lamps before you go."

"SANS! Could you try to put a little more 'backbone' into it?! Just go fix your puzzles!"

"alright sure."

Papyrus then turns around and dashes off, his scarf blowing in the wind.

"alright. you kiddos are good."

Emily steps out from behind the lamp, half confused and half annoyed that Sans kept trying to give them away. Ivan also steps out from behind it, adjusting his glasses. "I'm rather curious, but from Papyrus's view, we were just standing beside the lamps. Do you know why he couldn't see us?"

"he doesn't always see everything. his eyesight isn't very good."

"Ah. I see." He nods his head.

"see you up ahead." He walks after his brother.

Emily blinks and she goes with Ivan down the path. She walks beside him, and most of the walk is silent. Emily gets thrown into a battle with an Ice Cap. Ivan almost looks excited and starts drawing it. Emily tries using kindness but that doesn't really work.

"That's a... nice hat you've got there." Emily compliments as best as she can.

"Jealous of how amazing I look? Too bad for you!" Ice Cap replies as Ivan looks up from his notebook. He scribbles down more things about its behavior.

Emily sighs, turning away from the Ice Cap. Little does she know, she unintentionally hurt its feelings and it keeps trying to get her to look at it.

Emily just continues the battle, slightly annoyed. Ice Cap would be more bothered if Ivan wasn't staring at his hat. "Ivan, stop looking at its hat!"

Ivan blinks, looking over. "Why?"

"Because this thing has a big enough ego as it is! If I want to spare it, you can't be looking at it!"

"HEY!" Ice Cap shouts in defense.

Ivan sighs, mumbling, "I just wanted to accurately sketch it..."

Emily doesn't look at the hat. Ice Cap tries to get both of them to notice, but it didn't work. Ice Cap ends up looking defeated. As soon as Emily dodges another attack, she spares him, ending the battle. The two encounter a few more fights, in which Ivan insisted on sketching every monster, before they met the two brothers again.

Papyrus is busy scolding Sans. "You're so lazy, Sans! I can't believe you were napping all night!"

"i think that's called sleeping, papyrus."

Papyrus wags his finger in Sans's face disapprovingly, slightly scoffing. "Excuses, Excuses!"

Sans shrugs. "anyway bro, look over there." He points towards the humans.

Papyrus looks over, a wave of confusion passing over his face. He is slightly sweating. "Is this some kind of joke, Sans?" He doesn't know how Sans got two more humans, assuming that he is just using the other ones.

Sans tries not to laugh, but his grin widens. "no. it's not a joke. i don't do that kind of joking."

"Is it a prank then?"

"no. it's humans."

"But... how did you..." Papyrus is more confused than anything else.

"i didn't do anything. but you can capture them i think."

"They don't look a thing like the humans!" He remarks, still confused.

"Other humans?" Emily mutters to herself, wondering if Tessa, Aiden, Harmony, and Ethan had already gone through there.

"all humans look different." Sans explains.

"Do you mean... these are MORE humans?!"

"yeah bro." He grins.

"How have I gotten this lucky with humans?!" He asks rhetorically.

"i dunno bro it must be your lucky day."

"This is just... WOWIE! Undyne will be so proud of me!"

"of course she will be bro!"

Papyrus looks excited before clearing his throat. "I, The Great Papyrus, will capture every human that comes my way, including you!"

Sans gave a grin and a thumbs up.

Emily blinks before nodding, playing along.

"My brother and I have created some puzzles to stop any human! I bet you will find this one quite 'shocking!'" He chuckles at his own pun. "For this puzzle... is the invisible electricity maze!"

Ivan looks interested. He quickly sketches Papyrus as he explains the puzzle.

"When you touch the walls of this maze, you will feel a strong zap from this orb! Sound like fun?"

"Yeah... 'fun'..." Emily doesn't like the sound of this, but decides to keep the skeleton happy.

"Because the amount of fun you will most likely have, is actually rather small I think!" Papyrus continues.

Ivan blinks. Why did he ask if it sounded like fun then?

"Okay, you can go ahead now!"

The pair is confused. Didn't he mention an orb? Ivan just steps forward and Papyrus gets shocked.

Papyrus immediately goes to accusing his brother. "What did you do, Sans?!"

"i think the humans have to hold the orb, paps." Sans replies, as tired as ever.

"Oh, okay." Papyrus goes down a certain path through the puzzle, his boots leaving marks behind for where he had placed his feet. "Hold this, please!" He tosses the orb up in the air before running back to the other side of the puzzle.

Ivan barely catches the orb, but carefully steps exactly where Papyrus had been, Emily following.

They make it to the other side. Papyrus looks impressed. "Incredible! You two solved that puzzle so easily..." He slightly narrows his eyes. "Too easily!"

Ivan just sighs, scribbling this down in his notebook.

"However, fear not! The next puzzle was designed by my brother, Sans, but it is not so easy! You will surely be confounded! Nyeh, heh, heh!" He dashes off.

That leaves Sans with the two humans. "and if you were wondering about my bro's outift, we made it a few weeks ago for a costume party. he hasn't worn anything else since. he claims it's his 'battle body.' man, isn't my brother cool?" He grins, holding back a yawn.

"Yeah, he sure is something." Emily nods.

"he seems happy. welp, better get going." He waves. "cya kids later."

"Bye, Sans!" Emily waves her hand. Ivan slightly looks up from his notebook to wave.

The skeleton vanishes after walking behind a tree.

Emily turns to Ivan. "Well... that was special."

He nods, shutting his notebook. "We should probably try finding the others as quickly as possible."

The pair continues, looking around. Ivan is launched into a battle with an Ice Cap and Jerry. Ivan doesn't find it hard to spare an Ice Cap, as he observed Emily fight one. To get rid of Jerry, he simply decides to ditch him. Hopefully he'll come back so he can sketch him. Quickly, Ivan tears his eyes away from Ice Cap's hat.

"What are you doing?" It asks, surprised. Ivan just ignores it the next turn as well. The Ice Cap looks defeated...

Before Ivan can spare it, Jerry comes back. Ivan spares Ice Cap before dodging a few attacks just to sketch Jerry. Then, he and the other monsters ditch him. Again. The battle ends and Ivan turns back to look down the path. The two walk down it, ready for another puzzle or battle. They find a new puzzle, and there are spikes blocking their way. To continue, they will need to change the Xs to Os.

The first one is simple. Emily steps on the two Xs, turning them into Os. Ivan stands on the switch, and the red Os turn green as the spikes disappear.

They went onto the next puzzle. Before they could even step on an X, Papyrus appears behind them. "Humans... how do I say this..."

"It's Emily." She corrects, not wanting to be called human.

"Ivan."

"Human Emily and Ivan... you were taking a long time to arrive, so I decided that I would improve this puzzle! I tried rearranging the snow to make it look like my face! Unfortunately, the snow froze to the ground. Now the solution is different! As usual, the lazybones, Sans, is nowhere to be seen. I suppose what I am saying is... worry not, humans! I, The Great Papyrus, will solve this perplexing puzzle, so we can all continue! Meanwhile, you can try to solve the puzzle yourself! I'll try my best not to give away the answer!"

Emily sighs, trying to do the puzzle, but ultimately failing. Ivan observes it for a few minutes before trying it himself, changing all of the Xs into Os.

"Great job, Human Ivan and Emily!" Papyrus compliments before running off. Sans is across the spikes. "Good job, kiddos." He gives the two a sleepy smile. "i didn't have to do anything help you. which is nice because i love doing absolutely nothing."

The next puzzle has Papyrus there waiting again. The floor has a bunch of tiles and Papyrus is next to a robot, which he seems to have use of for this puzzle. "You two will love this puzzle! It was designed by the Great Dr. Alphys! You see these tiles right here?!"

"Yes." Ivan nods his head.

"Once I flip this switch, they will begin to change color! Each color has a different function, of course! The red tiles are impassable! You cannot walk on them! Yellow tiles are electric! They are going to electrocute you if you step on them! Green tiles are called alarm tiles! If you step on one of those, you will have to fight a monster! Orange tiles are orange scented. They will make you smell delicious! Blue tiles are water tiles. You can swim through them if you'd like, but... if you smell like oranges, the piranhas will bite you. Also, if a blue tile and a yellow tile are next to each other, the water will also zap you! Purple tiles are really slippery! You will slide to the next tile! However, the slippery soap... is lemon scented! Piranhas do not like lemons! Purple and blue tiles are okay together! Finally, the pink tiles. They don't do anything, so you may step on them as you please! How was that?! Do you understand?!"

Emily blinks, but Ivan nods in understanding. "Yes, I do."

Papyrus grins. "Great! There's one last thing... this puzzle... is entirely random! When I pull this switch, it will make a puzzle, that no one has ever seen before! I will not even know the solution to this one! Nyeh, heh, heh! Be prepared!" He turns to the robot, flipping the switch. The tile colors change, randomizing a billion times. When they stop, a path of pink tiles go through the entire puzzle. Papyrus spins his way out of that area, making a grand exit.

Both Ivan and Emily cross the bridge, encountering Sans. "my bro's spaghetti... it isn't actually that bad. he's been improving a lot since he's been taking cooking lessons. by the way he's improving, i bet he'll be able to make something edible next year."

Emily restrains from cringing. She loves cooking, and also would love helping Papyrus. Inedible spaghetti doesn't sound appealing. Ivan just listens to Sans, still writing things down.

"anyways, i've got to see what he's up to. see you soon, kiddos." He waves his hand as he did earlier and disappears.

Both of them are used to these encounters now. They continue down their path, completing another Xs and Os puzzle.

Emily quickly glances at a page in Ivan's notebook, gasping a little. Ivan pushes up his glasses, narrowing his eyes slightly and keeping his notebook away from her.

What was he hiding?

* * *

 **.:HARMONY:.**

Harmony doesn't have much to defend herself with. And Ethan was thrown against the tree, so she's on her own for now.

Ethan is trying to move. His HP being at 2 isn't helping him at all. One more attack and he will be done for.

Harmony does something that Ethan doesn't expect her to do; go onto the ground and roll around in the mud. It's not hard to tell Harmony is annoyed as she dodges the axes. Ethan finally gets to his feet, walking forward to go fight them.

Harmony gives him a look. "Go back! I've got this."

Ethan blinks and steps back. He usually listens to what Harmony says.

The dog sniff Harmony. By the looks on their faces, they think Harmony is a lost puppy of some sort. Harmony attempts to dodge yet another attack. Her HP is at 12. She pets Dogamy, causing Dogressa to get jealous. "Hey! What about me?" She asks as Dogamy looks confused. "Can a dog pet a dog?"

Harmony waits for the next attack. She dodges when it comes towards her, impatient for her turn. She pets Dogressa. "A dog that pets dogs... amazing!"

Another attack is thrown at Harmony before she spares the two dogs. She turns around and grins at Ethan. Ethan blinks slowly. And then his entire face lights up. "That was cool! You were so brave!"

"Ah... not really. I was just defending you." She offers a shrug.

He shakes his head as if he doesn't believe her. "Anyways, shall we get going?"

"Yes..." So the pair continues walking down the path to Snowdin Town.

* * *

 **Well, there was the chapter for today. Sorry it took so long. Don't worry, even with school starting back up, my updates will get a lot better!**

 **~Ninja**


	9. To Snowdin Town!

CHAPTER SEVEN

.:AIDEN:.

Aiden sits up, his head spinning. He looks around. Tessa is on the ground next to him. He has an idea, so he repeatedly pokes her cheek. "Tessa. Tessa. Tessa. Tessa. Tessa-"

Tessa shoves his finger away, clearly unamused. "Aiden. Stop."

He offers an amused shrug before getting to his feet. He holds out his hand politely for Tessa to grab.

Tessa stares at him for a moment before hesitantly grabbing his hand. Aiden pulls her up before letting go and looking around. "Where are we?"

"I don't know." He shrugs, looking around himself. "Let's just go down the path."

She sighs with a slight nod, letting him lead the way.

Aiden nearly runs down the path, his eyes darting around. He doesn't like it out in Snowdin...

Then, in the snow, a chubby skeleton is laying down, dozing off.

Aiden stares at him for a moment. He crouches down next to the skeleton.

"Aiden, don't you dare do anything you'll regret..." Tessa warns in a whisper.

Aiden looks over at Tessa. "It's just a skeleton." He pokes the skeleton's arm.

The skeleton peeks open an eye.

Tessa looks startled. "It's alive!"

"oh, heya kiddos." The skeleton stands upright. It isn't very tall.

Aiden slowly blinks. "H-How can a skeleton be alive?" He then thinks for a moment. _"Well, I mean we've met a lot of talking creatures and a flower, but a skeleton?!"_

"magic." The skeleton's grin gets larger somehow.

Tessa still looks sort of freaked out at seeing a skeleton. She inches away a bit.

"i'm not gonna hurt you guys. it'd be too much work."

Aiden nods. "So... who are you?"

"i'm sans. sans the comic."

"Oh. Well, I'm Aiden, and this is Tessa." He introduces to the skeleton.

"nice to meet you two kiddos."

"Where are we?" Tessa asks him. "Assuming you know where we are, that is."

"snowdin."

"Well, that explains the snow." Aiden muses, looking around.

"yep." Sans puts his hands in his pockets.

"What are you doing out here in the cold?" Aiden nearly shivers when questioning that.

"i'm watchin for humans. not to kill or anything, just watchin."

"Oh... why?" Tessa asks, tilting her head to the side.

"my bro wants to capture one. also, i need a job."

"Aren't you freezing out here?"

"Cold weather? It's snow problem." Sans grins.

Aiden sighs, brushing off some snow that is on him. "That was terrible."

"why thank you."

"I didn't mean it in a good way, Sans." Aiden then adds as Tessa shakes her head.

Sans shrugs. He tells more puns anyway. "you snow like puns?"

"Stop!" Aiden complains, now covering his ears.

Sans yawns. "alright, sure kid."

"So... your brother... is he harmful?" Tessa asks him curiously, almost a little worried.

"nah. he couldn't hurt a fly."

Tessa lets out a sigh of relief, a hand on her heart. "That's good."

"he'll be coming 'round soon."

"Does... he have a red scarf..." Aiden asks slowly.

"yeah."

"He's kind of coming right for us..." Aiden tells both Tessa and Sans.

"get behind those lamps kiddos." He points to them.

"What-" Before Aiden can even finish saying anything, Papyrus stops right before them. "Sans! I told you to-" Papyrus cuts himself off at seeing the two humans. "Sans... how is it possible that there's this many humans?"

"So the others have already been through here..." Tessa murmurs under her breath.

"there's a lot on the surface bro. a lot just came today, i guess." Sans puts his hands in his pockets again with a small shrug.

"Undyne really is going to be proud of me if I can capture these humans!" He looks excited. "I'll be Captain of the Royal Guard!"

"yeah sure paps. just be nice."

"I, The Great Papyrus, am always nice!" He declares as a response to his brother.

"yeah you are." Sans lets out a small chuckle.

"Once I capture these humans, I will bathe in a shower of kisses every morning!" Papyrus looks proud of himself.

"Who's to say you will capture us?" Aiden challenges, looking at him suspiciously.

"Well, you will never get my puzzles!" Papyrus replies.

"Are you sure about that?" Aiden can be very annoying when he wants to.

"Just roll with it!" Tessa pretty much whisper shouts at him.

"Whatever you say, Tess." He rolls his eyes.

"These puzzles that you will face have been made by me and my brother, Sans!" Papyrus continues. "There's no way you will get passed them!"

"they're super hard." Sans agrees.

"Alright, well let's go do some puzzles then!" Aiden exclaims.

"Continue if you must!" Papyrus calls back to them as he rushes away.

"welp, see you kids up ahead." Sans vanishes.

Aiden and Tessa exchange a glance before continuing on. As they continue, the phone in Aiden's pocket begins to ring. Both of them stop walking and Aiden holds the phone up to his ear. "Hello?"

"Hi... uh... I'd like to order a... um... a pizza...?"

"A pizza?" Aiden blinks.

"Y-Yeah... with... uh... the toppings are..." The voice trails off. "I have them copied down... let me send them to you..."

The phone is too old to receive texts. It reads out loud, character-by-character, an ASCII art of an anime catgirl. The call ends and Aiden slowly puts the phone back in his pocket.

"So... should we continue?" Tessa questions. Aiden nods, running his fingers through his hair. The two continued down the path, only encountering some monsters on their way. They then get to a bunch of snow poffs. They're about to continue down the path when Aiden hears a yip. He turns around. A puppy in armor arises from the ground.

Aiden taps on ACT, looking for the options. He presses on beckon. "Come here, doggy!"

The dog excitedly bounds towards him, flicking slobber all over him. Aiden laughs before the dog attacks. Aiden dodges, still laughing. Greater Dog barks excitedly. Aiden pets his head.

Tessa cautiously pets the dog as well. It curls up into her lap. It's so comfortable that it falls asleep...

Then it wakes up. It's now really excited! It sends more spears at Aiden and Tessa, whom only get damaged a little. The fluffy white dogs pats the ground with its front paws. Aiden makes a snowball with some of the snow in front of him.

"Aiden, you don't seriously think-" Tessa is cut of by the snowball, which hits the ground with a splat.

"Whoops..." Aiden shrugs. The dog brings all of the snow in the area to Aiden. Aiden finds this amusing and laughs. The dog however, is so tired that it rests its head on him.

More attacks are sent at them. Aiden pets the dog's head. It sinks all of its weight into him. But he still can't spare him!

Tessa dodges some of the attacks before petting the dog. It flops over and holds its legs in the air, yipping excitedly. It looks content and the two spare it. The dog licks both of their faces before going back into the armor and walking away. A bridge lies before them.

"I don't know about this, Aiden..." Tessa murmurs, eyeing it suspiciously.

"It's just a bridge, Tessa!" Aiden starts walking across it casually.

Tessa sighs, following him slowly, trying not to look down.

"Humans!" Aiden blinks, and then sees Papyrus and Sans, who offers a lazy wave. "This will be your most dangerous and last challenge! Behold! Here is the gauntlet of deadly terror! A bunch of deadly traps float around them. Aiden eyes them all warily.

"When I say the word, it will fully activate!" Papyrus explains, grinning. "The spikes will swing as the cannons fire! Every part will swing up and down! You two will only have a slight chance of victory!"

"What? Why?" Aiden asks, shocked that he would actually try to murder them like that.

"It is your final puzzle, human!" Papyrus just replies as an explanation. "Are you ready?"

"No!" Tessa nearly shrieks. Aiden narrows his eyes and scowls.

"I. Am. About. To do it!"

"well. what's the holdup?" Sans asks, his hands in his hoodie pockets as always.

"The holdup?! What holdup, Sans?! I'm... I'm about to activate it!"

Nothing happens. Aiden lowers his guard.

"uh, paps... that doesn't look very activated..."

"Er... well... this challenge... it seems... too easy to defeat these humans with! Too easy! I am a skeleton with standards, and that means we cannot use this one!" Papyrus exclaims, changing his mind on activating the traps. "My puzzles have to be very fair! And this... it does not seem very fair at all! This method has no class to it whatsoever!"

Tessa lets out a sigh of relief, glad that he changed his mind. Aiden just stares at him.

"What are you looking at, human? This is another victory for the Great Papyrus!" He turns around and runs away from both of the humans and his brother.

The two look at Sans, who just shrugs. "i've got no idea what paps is going to do now. if i was you, i would make myself prepared for blue attacks. see you kids later." He walks down the path and when out of sight, he teleports. Aiden and Tessa then enter Snowdin Town.

"Hey, Aiden! Tessa!" A voice calls from a distance. In the distance, Harmony and Ethan are sitting down on the ground in the snow. Harmony waves her hand. "Over here!"

"Harmony! Ethan! Where's Ivan?" Aiden asks as he pretty much trots over.

"And where's Emily?" Tessa adds, concerned about her best friend as she goes over to them too.

"I don't know." Harmony told them honestly. "Ethan took a bad hit... once they get here, we should rest at the Inn."

"I'm fine, Harmony!" Ethan insists. "We don't have to stop because of me."

Harmony folds her arms. "No." She argues. "We've been over this, Ethan! You know you're hurt! You can't go on in this condition!" Her deep blue eyes flash dangerously.

"Harmony, I'm fine!" He tries to insist again.

"If we're being honest here, I'm actually pretty worn out. I'm with Harmony on resting in the Inn." Tessa admits.

"Me too." Aiden agrees.

"That may be a good idea." A voice from behind them says. Ivan and Emily are behind them. Emily grins. She was the person speaking.

"Em!" Tessa exclaims, glad to see her friend okay. The two hug. They have been friends since they were babies. Emily is definitely the more talkative one of the two, while Tessa usually doesn't talk at all.

"Ivan! There's my baby brother!" Aiden smirks at his brother, causing Ivan to sigh. "I am not a baby, Aiden. I am twelve years old."

"I'm fourteen, and am older than you. Besides, you'll always be my baby brother!" Aiden counters.

Ivan shakes his head and pushes up his glasses. He doesn't reply. No matter how many times Aiden says that, Ivan can't get him to stop.

Harmony gets up and offers her hand to Ethan, but he doesn't take it and gets up himself, turning away from her. Seems she upset the cinnamon roll...

Harmony sighs, turning to the others. "Let's just get to the Inn..."

Aiden nods, leading the way. A bunny turns to face the children at the desk. She looks a little surprised at seeing a human, let alone six of them. "Hiya! How can I help y'all?"

"May... may we have two rooms, ma'm?" Aiden asks her politely.

"Sure! That'll be 80 G!"

Aiden hands her the money.

"Rooms 3A and 3B, back rooms upstairs!"

"Thank you." Harmony smiled at her and they walk up to the rooms.

"See you in the morning, everyone." Ethan enters 3A with Ivan and Aiden, shutting the door behind him. He sprawls out on one of the beds, and as expected, he falls asleep. Harmony knows him too well...

Ivan sits on one of the beds, opening up his notebook. He sits there for a while, staring at one of the pages.

"Are you alright, Ivan?" Aiden asks his younger brother.

Silence for a moment. "It's... I just..." He cuts himself off.

"Are you thinking about her again?" Aiden walks over to where his brother is sitting and sits next to him.

"Yes... I always am..." Ivan replies, his voice monotone as always.

"I miss her too, Ivan..." Aiden sighs sadly. "We have to try and move on."

"Move on? Aiden, you know that I've tried."

"I know... she was a big part of our lives... it's still strange without her..."

Ivan nods. "And she gave you your gun... and my notebook... she knew our best interests."

Aiden looks guilty. "I should've been a better person... before everything happened... I should've appreciated her more..."

His brother puts a hand on his shoulder to reassure him. "You've changed now... she knows you appreciate her... she would've been proud of you..."

He smiles sadly. "She would've been proud of you, too, Ivan."

"I wish she was still here." Ivan admits, closing his notebook.

"We all do..."

Ivan closes his eyes. It wasn't fair... she deserved to have a longer life! However, Ivan doesn't look like he has any emotion at all, even with talking about someone who was special to him and Aiden.

"Now, she just seems so far away." Ivan lays down on the bed.

"I understand." His older brother nods in understanding. "Just try to get some rest, okay?"

The younger boy yawns. "Sure..." He closes his peculiar purple eyes.

Aiden smiles a little at his brother before walking back over to his bed and laying down in it. Tomorrow... maybe tomorrow would be better.

* * *

 **These chapters are going to get more interesting. Waterfall will be an adventure! So, stay tuned! Or... don't?**

 ** _OH MY MARKUS!_**

 **Until next time, -Ninja**


	10. Snowball Fight and Exploring the Town

**The first half of this chapter is pretty much Harmony x Ethan fluff... so I hope you like that...**

 **Also! Shoutout to ponystories (or iHateFridays). They made some amazing Ethan x Harmony art shouting out my story and I really appreciate it man!**

 **CHAPTER EIGHT**

 **.:HARMONY:.**

When Harmony wakes up, she stretches. She rubs at her eyes, seeing her own room on the surface. That makes her happy and upset at the same time. It... was just a dream. She does at the same time wish it was real. Any second now, her little brother would burst into the room. Instead, she blinks and is back in her bed at the Inn.

Harmony gets up, looking at the other two beds. Both Tessa and Emily are still asleep. The toy knife Tessa owns is on her bedside table, along with her red ribbon. Emily is still wearing her apron in her sleep and murmuring nonsense. Harmony sneaks out of the room, careful not to wake either of them. She decides to go outside to get a breath of fresh air. As she walks outside, she sees Ethan leaning against the Inn, right outside the door.

"Ethan? You're up early." Harmony remarks, making him look a little startled.

"O-Oh! Hey, Harmony." Ethan greets, pulling on his gloves.

She slides down next to him. "...do you miss the surface?"

"Well, yes, of course I do. I don't really miss anyone on the surface, though."

"Not even your parents?"

"Not my parents. If there was one person I would miss, it would be you. But you're with me... and that both relieves me and upsets me." He replies.

Harmony blushes at his reply, but is also curious. "Would you prefer I wasn't with you?"

"N-No! I don't mean it in that way!" Ethan puts his hands up defensively. "I'm just worried something will happen to you, and then it'll be all my fault!"

"Ethan... I know you're worried, but I think I can somewhat defend myself if something like that happens."

Ethan frowns before nodding. He gets up.

"Where are you going?" She asks him.

"I might try to wake up the others."

"Nooooooo, don't leave me!" Harmony flops over in the snow. They seem to have swapped personalities for a second, considering they hang out with each other all the time.

"Okayyyyyyyyy." Ethan has an idea, so he bends over in the snow and picks up a bunch of it up forming it into a snowball.

Harmony almost immediately stands up, eyeing him. "Ethan, don't you dare."

He grins at her. "But I do dare!" He takes a step forward, causing Harmony to take a small step back. If they were on the surface, this would just be a normal conversation.

"Ethan..." She warns.

"You better not turn around because that'll make you an easy target and that's no fun!"

"What are you guys doing?" Ivan questions, pushing up his glasses. Aiden stands beside his brother. Both Ethan and Harmony turn to look at them, and when Harmony turns her head, Ethan throws a snowball at her, which hits her cheek.

Harmony snaps her head to him as soon as she feels the snow. "Ethan!"

He just laughs like a little kid (not that he isn't one but you get what I mean lol) and runs away.

Harmony forms her own snowball. "You're going to get it for that!"

"Not if you can't catch me~" He counters playfully.

"I'm serious, Ethan! As if I wasn't cold enough before!"

"But I thought you were Harmony." He grins wider.

"ETHAN!" She throws the snowball at him and it hits him directly in the face.

Ethan brushes away the snow. "Come on, you got to be better than that, Harmony!"

Harmony screeches on the inside. "Ethan, stop taunting meeeeeee!"

"You know it's just playful!"

All while the other four SOULS watch them. Emily, as opposed to being really tired, is now wide awake. "Hm... this seems like a good ship." She remarks.

Ivan innocently cocks his head to the side. "A ship? I don't see any ship."

Emily looks triggered. "You have so much to learn, Ivan."

"About what? I do not understand what is going on."

That's when Emily starts explaining what shipping is. Ivan looks confused, but nods along. "So... shipping is when you like a certain pairing together?" He tries to clarify.

Emily grins, nodding. "Yeah! That's it!"

He adjusts his glasses, looking back at Ethan and Harmony, who still are having a full out war. "Interesting..."

Aiden throws a snowball at Tessa, winking at her. Tessa sighs. "You seriously get enjoyment out of this?"

"Maybe~" He throws another one at her. She picks up a snowball and chases after him.

Emily laughs. Both pairs were amusing to watch.

Harmony wails another snowball at Ethan, whom dodges it. "Yay, you're getting better at throwing snowballs!"

She sighs, completely covered in snow. "Yeah, but what for?"

"For me!" He responds, tackling her to the ground, grinning.

Harmony tries pushing him away, laughing. "Now I'm even more dirty!"

"A little dirt never hurt anyone, not even you, Harmony!"

She sighs in defeat. "You know I hate getting dirty, Ethan. We've established this so many times."

"Well, I love getting dirty!" The SOUL of BRAVERY counters, now flopping down on the ground next to her instead.

Ivan looks at both pairs again. "Can we go?"

Silence...

"Proceed, then." He sits down, his notebook in his arms as he flips through a few pages. Emily catches a glimpse of something in the notebook, letting it run through her head.

Aiden is just laughing as he launches a bunch of snowballs before hiding behind the fort he made.

Tessa tries to do a sneak attack and goes behind the Inn and onto the other side. She lets all of the snow in her hands flow onto his head.

Aiden keeps trying to get it out of his hair while Tessa laughs. He looks unamused.

Ethan and Harmony are still lying in the snow. Harmony remembers a vivid memory of a conversation happening in the springtime...

Ethan and Harmony were lying in a bunch of flower petals. A few petals fell from the tree the two were beneath, one of them landing on Ethan's nose. Harmony laughed, and Ethan brushed it off.

"Harmony... do you ever... do you ever wish that you could just get away from home for a while?" Ethan asked, his eyes staring at the sky.

Harmony nodded, also looking up at the sky. "All the time..." She murmured.

"I just don't want to always go home and have my parents stare at me like I'm crazy for not being like them..."

"I understand... I wouldn't like that either... and I'm glad you're not like them."

"Me too. I like having you as a friend... and our other friends!" He exclaimed happily. The ends of his bandanna were off to the side. There were birds chirping from in the trees.

"I like having you as a friend too, Ethan..." Harmony smiled sweetly.

"I sometimes wish my parents liked you... I'm worried one day they'll decide I shouldn't need them anymore. And then they'll kick me out..."

"Well... you can always just stay with me if that happens!" Harmony decided, though she was unsure.

"Mmm... maybe..."

Harmony smiles a little at the memory before realizing that Ethan has covered her in snow while she was staring off into space.

Harmony sighs again and pushes it off. Ethan grins at this before getting up. "We should probably get going."

Harmony nods and gets up, brushing herself off. "Yeah."

Ivan looks around, pushing his glasses up and looking around. "It may be ideal to check this place out more before we leave."

The group nods in agreement deciding to head to the shop. A bunny is at the counter. She blinks in disbelief before shaking her head and replying, "Hiya there, travelers! How may I help you?"

"Hello!" Ethan waves his hand at the bunny lady excitedly.

"Well, there's not much you can do. We're just looking around Snowdin." Harmony responds as Ethan waves.

"Well, welcome to Snowdin Town! I can't believe I've seen so many new children around... there hasn't been anyone new in a while... let alone seven new faces." She remarks.

Aiden rubs the back of his neck, remembering how if his friends hadn't gone after him and Ivan, he would be making this whole trip with his brother.

Emily does a quick headcount. "Wait... there's six of us... what do you mean by seven?"

"Ah, well, you see, there was another human, and she was barely ahead of you."

"Interesting..." Ivan's glasses flash when he adjusts them.

"Are you all here by yourselves?" She then asks the group.

Tessa nods her head. "Yep... all six of us."

"Huh... well, I suppose that's better than being alone." She shrugs, not knowing what to say.

"Yeah! I like being here with these guys!" Ethan pumps his fist in the air.

Harmony grins before asking a question to the lady herself. "What can we do here?" Surely they could find something for more information on how to leave the Underground...

"Oh! Well, Grillby's has food, and the library has information... and my sister runs the Inn..." She thinks for a moment. "And if you're bored, you could always sit outside and watch those wacky skeletons do their thing. There's two of 'em. Brothers, I think. They just showed up one day and... asserted themselves, I suppose you could say. The town has gotten a lot more interesting since then."

"Thanks... I think that's all we'll need to know." Aiden tips his hat to her. "We better head out."

"Well, have a nice day!"

The group heads out to the library. Ivan pushes up his glasses at seeing the sign. "That spelling is incorrect. It is actually 'library' not 'librarby.'"

"Huh. Well, we should check out the inside." Aiden shrugs, pushing the door open. The group walks inside. Ivan stares at the monster at the front desk. "Excuse me, but-"

"Welcome to the library. Yes, we know the sign is spelled incorrectly."

Ivan turns away and to the books, his hands brushing along the books in the shelves. He stops at one and picks it out, opening it up.

"To break the barrier, monsters need seven human souls..." He murmurs as he reads along. No one had fallen down Mt. Ebott before them besides that other girl somewhere still Underground and another human child who disappeared ages ago. He skims through a few more pages, intrigued, before setting the book back in the right place. He turns around to face his friends, whom are all engrossed in their own books.

"Nothing..." Ethan sighs, putting his book back. "Nothing that will help, at least."

"I found out that for the monsters to break the barrier, they need seven human souls." Ivan announces, looking at all of his friends.

"So... that's why they're trying to kill us." Emily tries to confirm.

"Exactly." Ivan nods, his glasses glinting. "So, as I kept reading, I also found that to get out of here, we have to take a monster's soul."

"We can't do that!" Tessa protests, folding her arms. "There has to be another way-"

"Tessa." Aiden's voice is firm. "If it's the only way, there's nothing we can do about it. It's one monster. It's not like killing a whole colony."

"Right?" Aiden asks himself on the inside.

Harmony bites the inside of her lip. "Do we really have to kill someone?"

Ethan looks serious. "I think so. If we have to then there's no other way. We must get back to the surface."

"I guess so..." She mutters unhappily.

Emily shakes her head. "I'm with Tessa-"

"Emily." Aiden's voice becomes more stern. "We just discussed this."

"L-Let's not cross that bridge until we come to it..." Harmony attempts to placate all of them.

And to Harmony's surprise, all of them nod in agreement with no more words. She looks relieved and the group finally agrees to continue down the path and leave the town. A figure lies ahead, and it's not hard to tell it's Papyrus. He has his back turned to them. He turns around. "Humans. Allow me to tell you about some... complex feelings I am having. As much as I want to be friends... I can't. I want to fulfill my life long dream! I must capture you! It is my duty! As I, The Great Papyrus, will be the newest member of the royal guard!" All of them enter the battle.

Harmony takes a deep breath. "Let's do this."


	11. Papyrus Fight

**A little announcement to start off today's chapter! From now on, I will be writing in past tense. It's easier for me to read and write and I like it better than present tense unless it's in first person. And I don't really want to do first person. Unless I do it for a Frisk chapter later on. Either way, that was just what I wanted to tell you guys!**

 **P. S. Happy late anniversary, Undertale!**

 **CHAPTER NINE**

 **.:EMILY:.**

Emily stared at Papyrus as he sent an attack, which she easily dodged. Was this suppose to be hard? The MERCY button had been pressed repeatedly, and he was still attacking.

Papyrus had his signature grin on. "So you won't fight me? Then let's see if you can handle my fabled blue attack!" He sent a bunch of bones at them. The only one who dodged them all successfully was Harmony. When the others were hit, their souls turned blue.

"Ooh! My soul is blue now!" Ethan grinned, his eyes stars. He got excited very easily.

"Aw, yeah!" Aiden looked pretty happy. He liked the color blue, but not more than the color his soul already was, which was yellow.

"We're the blue gang now!" Ethan exclaimed, looking at all of his friends. Harmony simply grinned.

Emily frowned, "I kind of liked mine," Those were the words that came out of her best friend's mouth.

Tessa seemed to be twirling her blonde hair around her finger, "Didn't you like the green?"

Emily frowned with a nod, "Yeah. I did."

Ivan looked shook. He started scribbling things down vigorously in his notebook. He was scribbling so fast and so hard he nearly ripped the pages. Aiden took his notebook away, "Dude, calm down!"

Ivan reached for it. His voice was still monotone, "Aiden! Give it back!"

Aiden opened it up to read one of the pages and his brother practically tackled him and took his notebook back. His face held no emotion, but he looked unamused. He glared at his older brother.

And yes, all of this happened while Papyrus stood there, "..."

"Anyways, back to fighting!" Aiden ignored his brother's glare and kept his gun in his holster. He didn't know what could happen if he tried shooting one of the bones.

Papyrus dabbed Some marinara sauce behind his ear- Wait. Wait. Wait. ("HOW?!" screamed the author who didn't know if she was coming down with a cold or just had allergies) Skeletons don't have ears. Welp. Don't ask me why Papyrus pulled this stunt.

Emily waited for Papyrus to launch the next attack, which he did. She found herself unable to dodge from side to side.

"Jump!" exclaimed Harmony, jumping over the bones like it was just something she did in her ballet class.

Aiden pretty much held his brother's hand to make sure he jumped at the right time. Ivan let him do that as he held his notebook tightly.

Tessa jumped over a few bones, stumbling before falling to the ground. Emily helped her back to her feet. The battle wasn't too intense. Ethan hopped over the bones like a bunny rabbit.

"Look at me Harmony! I'm a bunny rabbit!" He called over causing Harmony to giggle. She was so distracted that she was hit by a bone. Ethan felt bad and frowned. He slipped through a bunch of bones as he went to help her up. "Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah." She nodded, offering a crooked smile.

A smile appeared on Emily's lips from the distance. "Harmony x Ethan. It's my OTP."

Ivan pushed up his glasses. He seemed to understand shipping better. "It is my one true pairing as well." He agreed, and the two were lucky they were in a safe distance from the pair. He jumped up when Aiden did, causing the brothers to be in perfect synchronization.

The ribbon in Tessa's hair, which was red, flung behind her as she jumped over the bones. Papyrus was getting tired.

Aiden yawned and kept jumping over bones. "This is boring."

"I think it's fun!" Harmony countered as she leaped over another bone.

"Me too!" agreed Ethan as he slid to the side to dodge a bone.

"Could be worse..." Ivan muttered with a small shrug.

"Get ready for my special attack!" Papyrus exclaimed, holding his head high.

"Ooh!" Ethan seemed excited at this.

"Sounds interesting!" remarked Emily, eyeing Papyrus.

A few more attacks were sent at them before Papyrus grinned even wider. "Behold...! My special attack!" A dog walked into the battle and nommed on the bone.

"What the heck!" Papyrus shouted, surprised. "That's supposed to be my special attack."

Aiden snickered. "Not a very good one if you ask me."

Tessa gave him a disapproving glance before focusing back on the battle.

"Hey! You stupid dog!" The dog looked up at him with wide eyes. "Stop munching on that bone!"

The dog slunk back and started to walk away.

"HEY! GET BACK HERE WITH MY SPECIAL ATTACK!" Papyrus demanded, stomping his foot angrily while the SOULS blinked at him.

He then sighed. "I'll just use a super cool, amazing, and spectacular regular attack. He sent a powerful, yet still regular, attack at the group. Tessa's HP dropped to 2.

Papyrus panted as he sent one last bone. "Well... it's clear to me... that you cannot defeat me! You are shaking in your boots!"

"No, we aren't!" Aiden huffed, folding his arms.

Papyrus ignored Aiden. "Therefore, I, The Great Papyrus, am electing to grant you my pity."

"We don't need your-" Tessa slammed her hand over Aiden's mouth. She was too tired to verbally shush him.

"So, The Great Papyrus will spare you!" Emily clicked the MERCY button and they spared Papyrus.

"Nyoo hoo hoo..." Papyrus was turned away from the humans. "I'm incapable of capturing such weak humans like you..."

"Hey!" Ethan protested, but of course he was more amusing when he was angry than scary. "We are not weak!"

He sighed, not responding. "Undyne will be so disappointed in me... and I'll never become a member of the royal guard... and my friend status will remain stagnant."

"We can be friends!" Emily exclaimed as a suggestion.

"You want to be friends... with me?" Papyrus asked, his voice now raised.

"Sure! We could do that!" Harmony nodded quickly.

"Fine with me." Tessa offered a small shrug.

"I do not see why not." Ivan's glasses flashed.

"Yeah! Let's be friends!" Ethan pumped a fist in the air. Aiden said nothing. They all stared at him.

"...fine."

"I suppose I can be friends with all of you... WOWIE! I have friends!" Papyrus looked happy. "And I didn't know that all I had to do to make friends was to make terrible puzzles and then fight them!"

Everyone blinked, but nodded. He was Papyrus! What did you expect? A figure was behind him. Ethan was instantly on edge. "Who's that?" He pointed behind Papyrus, and everyone looked behind the skeleton.

"I've heard a lot about you." The feminine voice said, stepping into view. "I'm Frisk. Nice to meet you."

Papyrus gasped, putting his hands to his face. "Human Frisk!"

Chara floated next to her. "Heya~"

"Wait... you're the other human?" Emily questioned. Frisk nodded, slightly grinning.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Ethan!" The bravery soul stuck out his hand for Frisk to shake. A small chuckle before Frisk shook his hand. "We should all hang out sometime."

"Why not at my house?!" Papyrus offered. "Human Frisk hasn't been there in forever!"

"I'd be down with that." Frisk shrugged. Chara hovered a few inches above the ground.

"I think that sounds good." nodded Emily in agreement.

Tessa offered a thumbs up. Her voice was quiet. "Okay..."

Ethan grinned. "Yeah! A hangout at Papyrus and Sans's home!"

Harmony looked at her feet. "Sure..."

Aiden sighed, wanting to move on to Waterfall, but nodding his head and unenthusiastically pumping a fist. "Yay. Let's go."

"Perfect!" So the group headed off.

Frisk tossed her hair out of her face, inspecting everyone. She noticed the relationship between Ethan and Harmony, so she decided to ask a question, "Are you two like boyfriend or girlfriend?" She asked with a yawn.

Harmony's face reddened. "No! Why would you think that!"

"I dunno it just seems like it."

Harmony huffed.

Ethan froze for a moment. Wait... did that mean what he thought it meant... he remembered a long time ago that someone had asked if she was his girlfriend and he told them yes. She was his friend, and was a girl! But that wasn't what the boy meant. He meant dating wise, didn't he? Ethan felt stupid. He had completely zoned out. He blushed out of embarrassment.

"Um... Ethan?" Harmony poked him.

"Huh? Um... what?"

"You zoned out..." Harmony looked away. Was Ethan... blushing? She had never seen him blush. He never did. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, nothing!" Ethan waved it off as if it was nothing.

Harmony frowned. What wasn't he telling her? She felt awkward so she kind of edged away and decided to talk to Frisk instead. "So... who's your pal?"

"You mean this hot ghost? His name is Chara." Frisk explained to her. Harmony blinked at her. Chara waved with a yawn. "Do any of you have ghost chocolate?" He asked abruptly.

"No..." Aiden grumbled. "None of us are dead."

Chara's red eyes glowed. "Not yet you aren't."

Tessa stepped a little farther away from him. She didn't like that ghost. Or Frisk. They seemed... strange.

Harmony seemed to trust them. That was her weakness. It wasn't hard for Chara to see. But he wouldn't think of doing anything. After all, he was a ghost.

Ethan kept trying to meet her glance, but she wouldn't look at him. He felt bad... but he didn't know what he did. He decided to talk to Ivan instead. "So... what's in that notebook?"

"Stuff." He replied simply. He was clutched to his notebook.

"What kind of stuff?" He asked curiously.

"Just... stuff." He shrugged. Ethan wouldn't understand what was in his notebook. So he didn't tell him.

Emily walked next to Tessa and Frisk, Harmony being on the other side of Frisk. "So... what's your soul color?"

Frisk's soul appeared in front of her. "Red."

"That's cool! Mine's green!" Her soul appeared.

Frisk had a slight grin. "Red and Green... those are nice colors."

"And Christmas colors." added Tessa quietly.

"Christmas is... alright." Aiden didn't like Christmas all that much... it only made him remember what he'd rather forget.

"I love Christmas!" exclaimed Ethan, jumping up in the air. No reaction from Harmony.

Harmony liked spending Christmas with Ethan, but the one thing that was still nagging her from Christmas was that they were under the mistletoe at some point when Ethan had a Christmas party, and Harmony choked on her glass of water. Ethan didn't seem to notice however, so she was glad about that.

Ethan's shoulders slumped. Why wouldn't she just look at him?!

"Hey... Ethan. Are you okay?" Emily asked him, concerned for her friend's well-being.

"Do you know why Harmony's ignoring me?" He blurted out. Luckily, there was enough distance between the pair and the rest of the group for anyone to notice.

"Ignoring you? What do you mean?"

"She looks away from me every time I try to meet her gaze... I don't know what I did."

Emily looked over at Harmony, who seemed to be farther ahead of the rest of the group. She noticed she had a kicked puppy expression...

"Strange..." Emily frowned. "Maybe try talking to her?"

Ethan nodded in understanding and sped ahead of most of the group. He slowed to the same pace as Harmony when he reached her. "Hey!"

"Hi, Ethan." She waved halfheartedly, not looking at him.

"What's wrong with you?" He asked as soon as she had finished saying his name.

"I'm fine." She sighed, averting his gaze. "It's nothing."

"Come on, if it's nothing, then you'll look at me!"

"I don't want to." She replied firmly.

"Harmony! I don't even know what I did wrong!"

No reply.

Ethan grabbed her by the shoulders and looked her dead in the eyes. She just looked... disappointed. As if she had been hurt by someone.

Harmony pulled away. She knew he still cared, but Ethan was always an outlet to how she was feeling. They didn't keep secrets from each other. It wasn't something they did. They were the best of friends. Harmony just felt that he probably liked someone and was stupid for thinking he had a chance of liking her.

Ethan watched her carry on. He just stood there, dumbfounded.

Aiden patted his back. "Sorry, dude. Best just to leave her alone for now."

"I guess so..." He mumbled.

Emily glanced at Harmony. She would have to talk to her.

Papyrus ended up passing his house and then making a U turn to get back to it. "We're here!" He announced. He opened the door.

Emily looked inside. It was going to be a long day.

* * *

 **Haha I'm evil**


	12. FILE 4: LOADING

_Harmony's life was perfect. She had a loving family, loving friends, and was actually known by many people at school. She loved doing ballet with the other people in her group. Funny how easily something can get flipped upside down._

 _Harmony never wanted to move. She liked where she lived and didn't want to leave her family because of her father's job. It wasn't fair! Everything she had ever known was where she was currently. And then her parents just up and announced to her and her younger brother that they were moving. This was obviously a big impact on Harmony. She spoke her first word there, she took her first steps there, she even made her first friend there! She didn't want to move halfway across the country just for her father's job. But Harmony never said she didn't want to move. Why would she? She was doing the right thing, anyways... there was no point in trying to selfishly pester her parents to let her stay. Begrudgingly, she packed her things for the big move._

 _The thing that she was looking forward to was meeting her aunt and uncle. They had always lived there, and she had never gotten to meet them. They didn't have any kids, her mother had told her._

 _Josh, Harmony's nine-year-old brother, was also excited to meet them. Unlike Harmony, who had auburn hair and blue eyes, he had light blonde hair and blue eyes._

 _So then came moving day, when Harmony said goodbye to all of her friends and most of her family one last time before boarding the plane. It was a smooth ride- which relieved Harmony. She didn't need anymore stress about riding a plane._

 _They got off the plane and headed towards their new home. Her mother told her to go outside with her brother to the local park and try to make friends there._

 _But Harmony didn't want to. She did go to the park, but she didn't want to make new friends. They seemed to intimidate her, anyways. She spotted some kid in the distance with an orange bandanna, but didn't even bother trying to talk to him. He looked... tough. The exact opposite of Harmony. At least she saw a few girls who looked like they were ballerinas as well. She went over to greet them, but found that they weren't very good people. Harmony already hated this place. Whilst Josh was making friends, Harmony was feeling homesick. She even watched a group of four kids in the distance, whom looked like they were having fun. She couldn't hear what they were saying to each other, but didn't try getting closer. She didn't want to interrupt that. She sat on a bench and waited for her brother to be done. He excitedly told her about the new friends he had made. She gave him_ _a thumbs up and forced a smile. He didn't seem to notice how forced it was._

* * *

 _One boy was hanging upside down from a tree._

 _"Aiden, don't do that." scolded one of the two girls, fixing her ribbon._

 _"I live for the head rush!" Aiden exclaimed, hanging from the tree more dangerously._

 _"Weren't those the exact words you said when you last climbed a tree and broke your arm?"_

 _"Oh, shush."_

 _Aiden's brother was sitting at the trunk of the tree his notebook open as he scribbled down notes. "Aiden, that is not a good idea." He warned his brother._

 _"Say whatcha want, Ivan." He yawned, seeing the world from upside down._

 _The second girl was picking some flowers. "When you get killed, don't blame us."_

 _"Emily that's not very nice of you." huffed Aiden as he swung back up and the world wasn't upside down anymore._

 _"Sorry that it's true." Emily shrugged. She was picking lilies. "Hey, Tessa, have you seen any sunflowers?" ( **I'm** **very** **sorry** **I'm** **no** **flower** **expertise** )_

 _"Yeah, over there." She pointed down the path and in the distance._

 _"Okay! Thanks! I'm making a bouquet for my mom!"_

 _Tessa frowned a little at that. "Oh... I could go help."_

 _"Sorry if I made you feel bad..." Emily apologized to her friend, knowing she lived with her dad and her parents were divorced. "But yeah! You can help! Mom would appreciate it!"_

 _"Okay!" She followed after her friend._

 _"Aiden,_ _you are such a hypocrite." Ivan sighed, closing his notebook._

 _"Whatever do you mean?"_

 _"Yesterday, you were just telling me not to climb up trees because I could get myself hurt like you did, and here we are today, and you still haven't learned anything from your last experience."_

 _"I like climbing trees. And I wouldn't want to see my baby brother getting hurt." There was that babyish tone in Aiden's last sentence that could easily tick anyone off._

 _Ivan didn't show any emotion towards this, but just stared at his brother._

* * *

 _Things could only seem to go downhill from there. On top of all of that, her aunt and uncle didn't like her. Not at all. They told her she wasn't good enough. They told her she needed to change. They had said they deserved a better niece._

 _Even though they didn't ever physically harm her, they did always mentally. Her confidence in herself was lost. She could use a friend. But she was just the new girl. No one knew her. No one cared to know her. That all changed one day. That was day Ethan came into her life. The day he defended her from those bullies. He was the polar opposite of her. Tough. Brave. Optimistic._

* * *

 _"Heya! Come on, let's just forget about what happened! How about we get to know each other instead?" That was all this boy seemed to want. A true friend._

 _Harmony nodded, though she doubted she could forget about those bullies. But they always seemed awfully intimidated by Ethan, so they never said anything to her unless Ethan wasn't around or wasn't paying attention._

* * *

 _She didn't have a brave bone in her body. She wasn't tough. She was more of a coward. Ethan didn't seem to think so. Somehow, this boy that she barely even knew was defensive of anyone who challenged her. She... appreciated him. She looked up to him. And so did Josh. He tried being as tough as Ethan was- and couldn't succeed- but always admired him._

 _But Ethan wasn't necessary the most modest person, either. He fibbed an awful lot, but tried not to do it much for Harmony's sake. He only did it so his parents wouldn't guilt trip him._

 _This led to Harmony developing a crush on him. He was so sweet and caring- and despite how much he hated ballet, he went to every single recital she had. And no matter how many times they fought, Ethan always seemed to be the first one to apologize, even when most of the time the conflict started because of Harmony. She never understood why. It was a constant war of them both apologizing and saying it was their fault. The cycle_ _typically never ended until_ _one of them forgot about the argument._

* * *

 _"You're the worst friend ever!" Harmony yelled at him._

 _"Well so are you! You're a coward! You just run away from your own problems and expect me to fix them!" Ethan countered. That actually stung her a little. She seemed hurt._

 _"You're right Ethan. I won't deny it."_

 _Ethan felt a wave of guilt. "I didn't mean it, I swear! I was just so frustrated with you!"_

 _"No. I get it, Ethan..." Her expression was downcast._

 _"I'm serious! I'm sorry!"_

 _"I know you are. But what you said is still true. Nothing you say can change that."_

 _Ethan frowned before walking over and hugging her. He felt really bad that he had said that to his best friend..._

* * *

 _Then came the day when Aiden met the two. He was pretty laid back, Harmony judged at first glance. And he was. He introduced them to his brother and two other friends. No matter how much she knew they cared about her- and how much more happier she had felt since she had moved there- what her aunt and uncle said to her still swirled around in her mind. Not even Ethan was aware of this mental abuse. She didn't want to tell him. She was afraid of what he'd say. She knew she was overreacting when she thought he'd turn his back on her if he knew. But she couldn't bring herself to do it. She couldn't._

 _She did admit a lot of things to Ethan. Like her fears. Her insecurities. He listened to everything. He trusted that her telling him everything that would help her feel better. He'd even end up hugging her and telling her how good of a friend she was just to make her feel better about herself. That meant a lot to Harmony. And when she was being entirely honest, Ethan was too good for her. Ethan would deny it, but that wouldn't stop her from thinking it._

* * *

 _Harmony watched the others from the sidelines. Ethan plopped down next to her. "Aren't you going to come with us to play tag?"_

 _"Ah... I'll just watch." She told him, trying to not look at him._

 _"What's wrong." Ethan's expression hardened. He instantly knew something was up._

 _"I just... am unsure whether or not I fit in here..."_

 _"Of course you fit in!" reassured Ethan, throwing his arm around her casually. "I fit in, and I'm a doofus!"_

 _Harmony laughed at his enthusiasm. She had never met anyone before Ethan that looked so proud about insulting himself. "If you say so."_

 _"I KNOW so." He grinned and pulled her to her feet. "Come on. Let's just play with them. I'll be it first and you can run."_

 _"Okay." She forced a smile._

* * *

 _She still didn't know if she ever truly fit in with that group of friends. Well, not until they had fallen Underground. Before then, she trusted them, but she knew her biggest weakness was that she trusted people too easily. She only truly felt she could truly trust Ethan. That was why she always stuck around him... because if anything went wrong, he'd be there..._

 _The day she was told that Ivan and Aiden had disappeared had shocked her. She had heard everyone talking about the girl who climbed up Mt. Ebott and never came back down. She knew what would happen. She couldn't bare the thought of being alone again. So she said she'd go with them to look for them. When they got to the cavern, they found Ivan's glasses. Harmony just wanted to get a better glimpse of what they'd be getting into. She slipped and hung onto the edge of the hole. She couldn't even see the bottom. She wondered if this was it. If her destiny was to die. She lost grip and Ethan caught her hand. But even he wasn't strong enough to pull her up, and ended up sliding down on top of her. When she woke up, her body ached. She was on the bottom of a pile of four people. That's when the journey started for her and her friends. She was still herself. Just more cautious so she wouldn't feel hurt if they did leave her in the dust._

 _But the more she went through with them, the more she trusted them. The more she felt like she had found her place. The more she felt glad that she had met these people._

 _Maybe... falling Underground wasn't such a terrible thing after all._

* * *

 ** _This was a lot_**


	13. Hangout With Papyrus!

I somehow finished this before a special AU chapter. Impressive for my standards. Welp. Here we go. Have fun learning more about Aiden. Woah a regular chapter for once. I stopped procrastinating.

Anyways, I don't know when the next update will be...

 **CHAPTER TEN**

 **.:IVAN (and Aiden I guess):.**

Ivan walked inside, his glasses sliding down his face. It was a cozy home, he decided, as he looked around the small house. Papyrus was standing excitedly in the front. "I can show you all around!"

"Sounds good to me." Aiden grinned, glancing at the others.

"Yeah, I don't see why not." Harmony's tone almost sounded as emotionless as Ivan's usually did. Not good...

Even Ivan's mouth twisted into a frown. "Are you okay, Harmony...?" Ivan asked, not letting anyone hear how worried he actually was. He couldn't let them because he didn't know how.

She stared off into space. Ethan just sighed and grabbed her by the arm. "Just start the tour. She'll zone back in eventually." He reassured. "I'll just drag her."

"Okay!" Papyrus looked excited and dashed over to the kitchen. "This is my kitchen! If you ever need a snack, just open up the fridge and choose what you'd like!" He then ran up the stairs. "This room is my room!" He explained, opening the door. It had a neat race car bed and his clothes were neatly on hangers.

Ethan glanced at Harmony. She was still out of it...

* * *

 _Harmony opened her eyes. She was in that room again. It was a void of darkness with a dark blue soul in the middle. Suddenly, Ivan appeared. His soul was gray and you could see the cracks within it. He reached out his hand in the dream._

 ** _Harmony didn't know what to make of it._**

 _"His soul seems weak... the gray must mean he's lost his trait." Her voice echoed as she tried to grab Ivan's hand. He evaporated,_

 _"But... why the heck do I suddenly know any of this? I don't even understand what I just said. Hello? Is anyone there?" She called through the void. She thought she saw someone's shadow..._

 _But nobody came._

* * *

Harmony was on the couch. There was a blanket on her. The others were sitting on the floor and playing a game with Papyrus. Ivan got up. "I will be back. I am feeling hungry." He walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge. There was just frozen spaghetti. And a dog chewing on a bone. Ivan shut the refrigerator. "I'm not feeling so hungry anymore."

Chara was at the doorway. The ghost was floating there with a chocolate bar that Asriel had given to him before he died. It was that old. He took a bite of it. "Yeah, I totally get where you're coming from."

Ivan nodded, sliding his glasses up his nose. "I do not know how poisonous the spaghetti may be."

Chara held out his chocolate bar. "Want some?" He asked, his red eyes glinting.

"One, I am not a ghost, and two, how old is that chocolate bar?"

"I dunno. Maybe a few decades old." He responded in his usual, laid back tone. Ivan walked past him and back to the others. Chara frowned a little. He sensed that Ivan was strange...

"So, did you get your snack?" Emily questioned Ivan, curious.

"Yeah." He lied, but it was almost impossible to tell with him.

"OH GOODIE!" exclaimed Papyrus. "DID YOU LIKE THE SPAGHETTI?"

"Loved it." He sat down next to his brother and Emily.

"Liar." mumbled Chara as Frisk shot him a glare. Harmony just watched, not saying anything.

"Heyyyyyy, Harmony is up!" Ethan pointed at her. Dang it. She blinked at him. Awkward silence between the whole group.

"I'm gonna borrow Harmony for a minute." Emily told them all, dragging her upstairs.

Aiden flicked one of the pieces off of the game board. "So... what now?"

Ethan asked an odd question. "Do you guys know me...?"

"Of course we do!" Aiden answered, grinning.

"But you don't." Ethan's voice was firm. "You don't know what happened before we were friends."

"Well then, I guess now is the time to tell us..." Tessa told him, laying back.

* * *

Emily shut the door to Papyrus's room, which the skeleton willingly let them use. "Talk."

"What do you mean?"

"It's better now than ever. We're worried about you, Harmony. Why are you acting so strange?" Her eyes pierced through Harmony. She wasn't joking around.

"Well, it's just... it's just... _Ethan_..." Harmony admitted, her shoulders sagging.

"Ethan is the reason you're acting strange?"

"I don't mean it in a mean way. He hasn't been himself lately..."

"What do you mean by that? He seems fine to me."

"No offense, but you don't know him on a deep level like I do." Harmony explained. "It's not hard to tell he has a crush on someone."

"What's wrong with that?"

"It's not... _**me**_." Her fist clenched a little. Emily's mouth formed an 'o' shape. "That's what this is about. Ethan finally got a crush. Good for him, I suppose."

"Well yeah, but there's like a ninety-nine percent chance it's not me."

Emily looked unsure. "Maybe. But there's still that one percent chance. Even if he doesn't like you back, isn't his friendship worth enough to you?"

Harmony felt immense pain at hearing that. "His friendship is everything to me!" She snapped at her. "And I haven't told him I like him because I don't want to ruin our friendship like that! So I... just stay quiet... _being quiet never gets me into trouble anyways..."_

"I didn't mean to offend you, Harmony... but even if he doesn't like you back, you're worrying everyone by acting like this..." Emily opened the door. "My door is always open, I guess. Come down when you feel like it."

* * *

"WOAH, YOU GOT SUSPENDED BY SLAPPING SOMEONE?!" Aiden was really impressed in Ethan.

"Yeah... they deserved it." He shrugged.

"What did I miss?" Emily questioned, sitting back down next to Ivan.

"Just Ethan's backstory. Where's Harmony?" Ivan asked her, looking to see if she was behind her or something.

"I think she just needs some alone time for a bit." Emily answered, looking over to see Frisk and Tessa playing a game of chess. Chara was barely hovering above the ground next to her.

"Aha!" Tessa moved her bishop, taking Frisk's queen.

"Nooooooooooooo." Frisk cried over dramatically.

Ivan was watching. "Can I play next game?"

"Sure. Whoever wins this one can battle Ivan, the master of chess!" Tessa took another piece from Frisk. Frisk wasn't really trying. Just trying to amuse herself.

"Purple human!" exclaimed Papyrus, tapping Ivan's shoulder.

"You may call me Ivan."

"Could you help me? There is a leak in my room and I do not know who can fix it besides Sans, and he is a lazy bones!"

"Hm... I'm no construction worker, but yeah, I'll go check it out for advice maybe?" **[a/n: I needed Ivan out of the room and as lazy as it is bare with me]**

"That would be fantastic!"

Harmony walked down the stairs at said word. "Hey, guys."

Papyrus ran past her and she nearly fell down the stairs. Ivan followed him slowly.

"Oh, good. Now everyone can hear it." Aiden's voice was serious as Harmony sat down. "I don't think I've ever told anyone the full story... and now that Ivan's gone, I don't have to see his face when I explain this to you..."

"Explain what?"

"My sister, Erin... she died a few years ago..." He explained quietly. "You guys have the right to know everything, even though Emily and Tessa already know most of it." He cleared his throat, starting his story...

* * *

 _If you would've asked ten year old Aiden what he would do if his sister died, he would've just simply said that she wasn't going to die and that was that._

 _Unfortunately, even Aiden couldn't have prevented her death..._

 _Cancer. That was what the the diagnosis that Erin had. Aiden felt his whole world crumble at hearing those words. How could Erin have cancer? She didn't deserve it! He sort of... changed, you could say. He became the school's biggest bully because of how upset he felt. He stopped trying in school. His grades dropped significantly. His family was worried about how terribly he had taken this news. Somehow, the laid back, charismatic Aiden was gone. And he was replaced by someone Ivan didn't even recognize anymore._

* * *

"That's terrible..." Harmony whispered.

Aiden gave no reply.

Aiden pushed everyone away. His friends, Tessa, even Ivan. But Erin clung on. She did it for Aiden's sake. She knew it would only get worse for him from there if she died. She took chemotherapy.

"Aiden?" His brother asked quietly, his arms around his notebook.

"Go away!" Aiden yelled at him.

"No..." Ivan protested, walking towards him. "It's okay... I'm here for you..."

No response.

"Come on..."

Aiden's eyes were glossy. As if they could be filled with tears. "Ivan didn't deserve any of it. Not a bit."

Tessa placed her hand on his shoulder comfortingly.

* * *

 _Yet at this point Aiden was losing his grip on reality... why couldn't things just go back to the way they used to be? When Erin was better... when he was happy... when he didn't have to be terrified constantly that Erin would and could die any minute. He was never much of a crier. But the tears began flowing down his cheeks when he knew no one was looking. He was a mess. His eyes were puffy and red almost always when he was alone. He suffered through a lot during the time when Erin had cancer._

 _And then the doctors. Then they lied to him. They told them she'd was recovering. They told them she'd be okay. Aiden loosened up when learning that. He was ready to go back to being himself again._

 _But then tragedy struck. Erin's health went downhill. Aiden was the only one in the room at the time. Aiden yelled at the doctors, accusing them of lying to him. They tried to help her. They really did. But they couldn't. They couldn't save her._

 _"Aiden..." His seventeen year old sister, Erin, croaked out. "Please... take care of Ivan..."_

 _"No! You can't die, Erin! You gotta hold on! You gotta!" He cried, pleading._

 _"I'm sorry... just, keep him safe..." She smiled weakly at him._

 _"P-Please! I-I can't do this without you!" He held onto her hand tightly._

 _"I'm so sorry..." Her voice was getting shallower. "But you will have to."_

 _"B-But... Erin..." Aiden sniffled, tears dripping onto her. "Y-You said you'd see me graduate... and you would yell the loudest... and I would do the same for you..."_

 _She squeezed his hand as reassuringly as possible. "I'll always be with you!"_

 _"I-I'll get a doctor! T-They'll make sure you live! I'll make them!"_

 _"I'm far past saving..."_

 _"Please! Erin!" He begged, his voice choking up. He needed his sister. She was the most encouraging and supportive person in his live. She couldn't die!_

 _"I may not physically be with you, but my spirit will always be with you and Ivan..." Tears were streaming down her face as well._

 _"Please... don't go..." He didn't want to let go of her._

 _"I love you both." She whispered as she smiled solemnly._

 _"B-But... b-but..."_

 _"Just take care of Ivan and protect him, okay?" She then closed her eyes. "You are his oldest sibling now..."_

 _"No... no... nonononono!" He started shaking her, his heart speeding up. "Erin! Wake up! Don't leave me!"_

 _Her vital signs flatlined._

 _Aiden screamed for someone, anyone, hoping they could bring her back._

 _A doctor placed a hand on his shoulder gently. "I'm so sorry, son. She's gone." He murmured sadly. "Your parents and brother should know, though... let's go..."_

 _"No! I'm not letting her go! You can't make me!" He pushed the doctor away, his eyes blazing._

 _That was the day Aiden decided that he hated hospitals..._

* * *

"I'm so sorry, Aiden." Ethan's expression was downcast. "I-I've never lost anyone that close to me before..."

"It's nothing." He shrugged it off as if what he just explained wasn't a big deal to him. But it was obvious it was...

"What was nothing?" Came Ivan's voice from atop the stairs.

"Don't worry about it, Ivan..." Aiden reassured, his voice soft. Ivan narrowed his eyes at him, but said nothing.

The rest of the hangout was lighthearted. Papyrus was blissful, to Sans's delight. The two brothers waved goodbye to them, and they finally headed towards waterfall.

 ** _And let the drama begin_**

 **A/N: I just wanted to say that I understand how serious cancer is. My aunt had cancer. I don't want anyone to feel offended that Erin died from it, I guess I could say. If you do feel so then I am sorry. It's just a backstory, and it's not going to be expanded on further, but maybe mentioned. Anyways, leave a review if you want.**

 **Regarding that small dream Harmony had, it was really a vision.**

 **Or was it...?**

 **We'll see if she speaks up about that lol**


	14. FILE 8: LOADING

**Okay so first off I'd like to apologize for not updating GroupTale. I've just been busy and someone plays Sans so he's not OOC in it. But anyways, thanks to CharaAndBlue, whom played Chara and was Chara, Sans and Toriel in this story! She should get special thanks for that! This was originally its own story but I decided to add it here so if you've already read this you can skip.**

* * *

A girl in a blue sweater with purple stripes managed to open her eyes. The only light was from where she had fallen from above.

A pale ghost with red eyes, brown hair, a green sweater with a yellow stripe watched from the shadows.

She looked around, her vision still blurry from only just regaining consciousness. Her eyes were a nice chocolate brown. "Hello?" She called out, her voice barely more than a whisper. "Is anyone there?"

The ghost stepped out of the shadows. "Greetings."

She was a bit startled. She didn't expect a ghost to be talking to her. "H-Hello. W-Who are you?"

"I am Chara. Yes, I am a ghost. And no, you are not dead."

The girl blinked, half impressed, half amused. He knew exactly what she was going to say for some odd reason. "Oh... hello. I'm Frisk." She greeted, wondering if she should be cautious of this ghost.

"This is the Underground. I can be a guide if you want." The ghost drifted closer to her.

Frisk was a bit freaked out, to say the least. Why would she trust a ghost she just met, anyways? "...alright." She sounded a little suspicious, but it was only slightly audible in her tone.

Chara stopped at her side and landed on the ground. He was slightly taller than her. "Go when you are ready."

She sighed, getting to her feet. She winced in pain. That fall hurt really badly. Had it not been for those flowers, she probably would've been dead.

The ghost stretched and watched the human out of the corner of his eye.

Frisk looked over at him curiously, pulling up her sweater.

It had been a while since he had been alive... Or even a ghost at that.

It must've had to do with Frisk's SOUL. There were six other SOULS, Patience, Bravery, Integrity, Perseverance, Kindness, and Justice, who had fallen Underground. None of them had been able to summon Chara before.

Frisk then took her gaze off of him to look around.

She must have a SOUL like he had... otherwise, why was he even here. His plan had failed, right?

Frisk walked down the path warily. They'd find out if she had the same SOUL as him soon.

After a little bit of walking, a flower popped out of the ground with a smile.

Frisk stumbled back at seeing him. She shivered a little. A smiling flower was creepier than a ghost.

The flower's grin widened. "Howdy! I'm Flowey, the flower~" It had a cheerful tone.

She blinked. A talking flower, too? This was just getting weird.

"This is the Underground!" Vines slowly creeped around her shoes.

Frisk quickly noticed the vines. She narrowed her eyes. "Yes, I have been told that."

"Well," The vines shot halfway up her legs tightened. She wasn't going anywhere. "Why don't I tell you more about it~"

Frisk tried breaking free of the vines. She couldn't do it. All of a sudden, she felt her world spinning around her. Was this it for her? Was she going to die? "N-No thanks." She replied, her voice small and full of fear.

There was suddenly a bright light from one side. Fire? A fireball hit the small golden flower. The vines instantly retracted. The flower winced and vanished.

Frisk looked over, still afraid. Who was it that had saved her?

A tall goat monster stood there. She smiled kindly at Frisk. "Are you hurt young human?"

Frisk relaxed at hearing the monster's voice. "No... thank you for saving me..."

"I am glad! If I may ask, what is your name?" The monster had kind eyes.

"I'm Frisk..." She responded, cracking a small smile.

"What a nice name! My name is Toriel! I am the guardian and caretaker of the Ruins, which is this place." She explained to the child.

"Nice to meet you, Toriel." Frisk said respectfully. Her eyes were shining.

"I can lead you through the Ruins, my child. Follow me." She turned and walked through a doorway. Frisk followed after her, looking around. She thought the Ruins were nice.

The ghost drifted after. He hadn't ever seen that flower monster before...

Frisk caught up to Toriel. She looked around. The Underground wasn't as terrible as everyone always claimed...

"There are many puzzles in the Ruins. There are also other monsters, but most of them are very nice." She pressed a bunch of buttons in the ground and pushed one on the wall and the door opened.

Frisk nodded, processing this. She would have to pay close attention to Toriel's actions, she decided.

 _"Why is Toriel on her own in the Ruins?" Chara wondered._

Toriel showed her to the next room. A practice dummy stood in the room. "This will be practice! Pretend that dummy is a monster and talk to it until I intervene!"

The dummy was silent.

Chara drifted in front of it. "I can be the dummy talkin' if ya don't want it to be super weird."

Frisk smiled, giving him a nod. She didn't know if Toriel could see Chara, and she doubted that she did, for she would've had a reaction.

"Hi Frisk, I'm the dummy." Chara grinned and he made his voice a bit higher pitched.

Frisk giggled, putting a hand to her mouth. This looked strange because it looked like she was laughing at air for no good reason.

"So~ do you have anything else to say?"

Frisk shook her head, still laughing.

Chara grinned.

Toriel ended the 'fight' and told Frisk that she did good.

Frisk told her that the dummy told her a funny joke and that was why she laughing. Of course, it must've just sounded like she was plain out crazy.

Toriel didn't really mind that. They came across a floor of spikes. "Please take my hand." Toriel said, offering her hand.

Frisk grabbed her hand, not knowing what was going on. Both of them walked through the spikes, the spikes disappearing as they stepped on where they used to be. Frisk let go of her hand when they got to the other side, but wanted to keep holding it. Chara drifted over the spikes with a yawn.

Toriel led her to a very long room. She turned to Frisk. "I'm sorry but I must ask you to walk to the end of this room by yourself."

Frisk gave her a questionable look. "Why?" She nearly asked her.

Toriel gave her a phone and hurried off as Chara drifted down next to her.

Frisk was worried about this. She turned to Chara. "Is there anything dangerous down this hallway?"

"Let me think... I don't think so. It's usually empty. And it's not like much can hurt you in the Ruins anyway."

"Alright, thanks for telling me." She turned to look back down the path and started walking down it.

Chara walked next to her. "It's been a while since I've been here." He muttered.

"What was that?" She asked him curiously, picking up on what he was muttering.

"Hm? I was just noting on how long I have been gone."

"Oh... alright." She nodded in understanding.

"So, you are the eighth human to fall."

"Huh... really?" She sounded surprised.

"Yeah."

"That's interesting. Are the other humans still down here?"

"Hm... I doubt it."

She flinched. "Do you mean... they're dead?"

"They could be."

That gave her chills. "That's not good..."

"Yeah, it's not."

"What about you? What happened to you?" She questioned him.

"I didn't die to monsters. I died a different way."

"How?" She wasn't realizing what she was asking.

"I poisoned myself on purpose." He responded as if it was no big deal.

"B-But why?" Frisk was confused and slightly horrified.

"To break the barrier. But it didn't work because of someone."

"Who?" She was curious if they would find this monster.

"Asriel. But don't say his name. He's already dead."

"...oh... sorry that happened, Chara."

"It happened 50 years ago. I'm fine by now."

"If you say so..." She sounded in disbelief.

"I can tell more later. Or now. I don't really care."

"Alright, what-" She was about to ask more when she reached the end of the hallway. She wouldn't talk to him if Toriel was there.

Toriel appeared from behind a pillar. "Good job my child. I needed to test your independence. I need to run some errands, so could you stay here please?"

"Of course!" Frisk nodded as she replied. Maybe she could talk with Chara more. Toriel smiled and then walked off, Chara watching her go.

Frisk then turned back to Chara. "How did you fall in the first place?"

"I hated humans and I didn't want to live with them anymore. I heard this legend that monsters lived in Mt. Ebott, so I decided to check it out."

"So you scaled the mountain... and then you fell down that hole?"

He nodded. "And it was better down here."

"I understand what you're saying..." She nodded, putting a lot of thought into this.

"That was a real long time ago." He yawned.

"But... who is Asriel?" She wanted to know more about him.

"Ah, he was the first monster who found me. He took me to his home. Toriel is his mother. After a while, they adopted me. So you could say he was my brother."

"That's... neat..." She didn't know how to reply.

He sat cross legged in the air. "Anything else?"

"Was it... nice to have a sibling?" Frisk never had any siblings or sibling figures.

"Yeah, it was great." Chara thought back to all the fun times he had with Asriel.

"I wish I knew what it was like to have a sibling..." She murmured.

"Well, should we continue?"

"I suppose so..." She nodded, looking into the next room.

Chara got to his feet and stood next to her.

Frisk walked into the next room, not knowing what awaited her. With Chara's help, she got through all of the puzzles successfully. She hated puzzles, but it wasn't as bad with some help.

Once she finished all the puzzles, her phone started to ring. When she pulled it out, it showed that Toriel was calling her.

The funny thing was, Toriel had called her twenty times throughout all of the puzzles she did. And this time, she was standing across from Toriel when she called her.

Toriel blinked. She ended the call and hurried over. "I am sorry my child, I was gone for too long! Did you get hurt?"

"No, I'm fine." Frisk gave her a reassuring grin.

"That is good. I have a surprise for you, my child. Follow me." She turned around and walked into her house.

Frisk didn't know what it was, but followed her.

The house was small and nice. There was the smell of pie throughout the home. "Surprise! I made a pie for you! Now, come this way my child."

Frisk smiled, following Toriel. She showed Frisk to an old bedroom. "Here you go!" She ruffled her hair affectionately.

Frisk gasped. "It's amazing! Thank you!"

"Oh, something may be burning! I will be back!" She hurried off.

Frisk walked into the room, looking around. It was very neat and there was a small bed. It looked very old. Chara looked around the room.

She sat on the bed before getting under the covers. It wasn't long before she fell asleep. Chara watched her as she slept. He was thinking about Asriel.

In the morning, Frisk got out of bed. She stretched with a small yawn.

"Had a nice sleep?" Chara asked.

"Yep... thanks for asking." She rubbed at her eyes.

"No problem." Chara got to his feet.

She left the room. Before she knew it, she was saying goodbye to Toriel at the Ruins door.

Frisk and Chara walked out into the cold and snow.

Frisk pushed through it. She wasn't prepared for extremely low temperatures.

Chara looked around. "Snowdin."

"That's what it's called?" She asked him, trudging through the snow.

"Yeah." Chara responded.

"Huh... hence the name, 'Snowdin,' right?" She was staring at the snow.

"It's a bit of a pun~" He grinned.

"I gathered that." She sighed.

"It's a nice place." They soon ran across a bridge with a bunch of rods. Maybe it was supposed to be a barrier?

Frisk blinked, and was going to go through it, a sound was heard behind her. Chara looked around.

Suddenly, there was a presence behind Frisk. It a deepish voice it said. "human. don't you know how to greet a new pal. turn around and shake my hand."

Frisk slowly turned around and stuck out her hand.

The figure shook her hand. It was a short skeleton. When their hands met, there was a whoopie cushion in his hand and it made a noise. He grinned. "the old whoopie cushion in the hand trick. that's always funny."

Frisk only smirked. Before she started snorting laughing. They both were now laughing.

Frisk thought it was so terrible that it was funny because fart jokes were always overused.

"i'm sans. sans the skeleton." He introduced himself.

"Frisk. How do you do?" She grinned.

"good. seems you are doin fine also. you are a human as i see."

"Yep. I've heard there's been seven before me."

"yeah. there has been." Sans put his hands in his pockets.

"Well, how many of them did you get to meet?"

"not a lot of them."

"Oh... are any of them still around?" She asked him.

"nah. they all died somehow."

Needless to say, Frisk was horrified. "..."

"now don't worry kiddo, i'm not gonna kill ya. my bro wants to catch one but he is harmless."

"Oh, okay."

"see that gate? he made it. but it doesn't really work."

"Yep..." She nodded her head in understanding.

"you can go right in through."

Frisk walked through it. "Yeah, I was going to do that if you didn't come here."

"that makes sense. my bro will show up soon."

As if on cue, in the distance was a skeleton wearing a red scarf. He was headed straight for the two.

"there he is."

"Where do I go?" Frisk asked him, though she was told he couldn't do any harm.

"behind that conveniently shaped lamp."

Frisk jumped behind the lamp. Papyrus stopped in front of his brother. "Sans! There you are!"

"heya, bro."

"You lazybones! All you do is sleep! You haven't updated your puzzles in days!" Frisk was wondering how Papyrus didn't see her.

"it would be a skele- ton of work." He grinned at his own pun.

"SANS!" He stomped his foot angrily

"yes?"

"Enough with the puns!"

"aww."

"Put a little backbone into it!" He laughed at his own pun. "Nyeh, heh, heh!"

"that was a pretty good on paps." Sans grinned.

"Thank you, Sans!"

"no prob."

Papyrus looked proud of himself.

"why don't you go check on your puzzles just in case a human comes by."

"Good idea, Sans!" He sped off.

Sans grinned as his brother left. "alright kiddo you are in the clear."

Frisk walked out from behind the lamp. "How...?"

"how what?"

"I get that from this view it looks like I'm behind the lamp-" She gestured to the front of it. "But from Papyrus's I was just standing next to it!"

"he doesn't notice things immediately."

"Alright then..."

"i'll be around." The skeleton walked away.

Frisk blinked. This was a lot to take in. Chara grinned at her.

After that, everything went fast. Frisk never could've gotten through the Underground without him. She wanted to repay him... she knew exactly how she could...

Chara was very open about things like this. It was great for them...

Until she shattered the barrier. "Chara, I did it!" She exclaimed joyfully.

Chara nodded. He was slowly fading away. "Good job Frisk! Now, go enjoy the Surface."

"W-Wait.. y-you aren't coming?" This seemed to hit her like a brick.

"I can't. But enjoy it without me!" He gave one last grin before he was gone.

Frisk reached her hand up to stop him... but he was gone...

She faked happiness when they got above ground and were staring at the sunset. She wanted to stay with Toriel... when Toriel tucked her in that night, Frisk couldn't sleep. She sat up. Her save file loaded. Two buttons were now in front of her: CONTINUE and RESET.

Chara wouldn't have wanted this... she knew that. But Frisk couldn't resist the temptation. If she reset, she'd be able to see him again. Her fingers strayed over to the RESET button.

Was this a good idea?

She smiled sadly, her hand touching the RESET button, causing it to glow green. "I'm going to get you back, Chara Dreemurr. Even if it's the last thing I do."

It was all RESET. All of it.

To this day, Frisk has never told Chara why she constantly went back even after getting the same ending. Finally, after at least twenty resets, something happened... the timeline was different. But it was for the better.

 **THE END**

 **OH MY MARKUS!**


	15. Groupswap (Special Chapter)

**SO! I'm uploading this at 12 AM, Monday the 19th of November. That means my birthday is exactly a month away now! Coolio!**

 **Anyways, I'd like to apologize for lack of updating. Life is hard. And the person I use who plays Sans isn't currently available for the Grillby's chapter, and I promise that if I can't get that chapter started soon, I'll skip it and I'll add it in later and put it as if it was from the past.**

 **Anyways, since I'm lazy, and I wanted to do something, I wrote Groupswap. Ethan centric for most of it for some reason XP.**

 **GROUPSWAP**

"I'm not sure about this..." Ethan muttered, playing with his gloves.

"I am!" Harmony pumped a fist in the air. "We'll find Ivan and Aiden in no time!"

"Maybe." Emily's voice was monotone as she fixed her apron.

"I'm sure they're fine." Tessa waved it off, flicking her ponytail.

Ethan edged towards the beginning of the cave. He heard a crinkling sound, looking down to see Ivan's glasses and cringed.

"Aw, you broke them." Harmony picked them up, looking to see that for the most part, the lenses were indeed cracked.

"I didn't mean to..." He looked down at his feet, embarrassed.

"I'm just joking." She reassured, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"This place is rather interesting." Emily observed, glancing around.

"Eh. I've seen better." Tessa yawned in reply.

Ethan continued walking, stumbling a bit and catching his foot on a vine, causing him to fall down the large hole ahead of him.

"I'M COMING, ETHAN!" yelled Harmony, jumping down the hole over enthusiastically.

"Hey, don't forget about me!" Tessa complained, sliding down it.

Emily watched all of them and looked around. Why not? It seemed safe enough...

She sat on the edge of the hole and slid down that way.

When Ethan woke up, he felt like he was crushed. It made sense, considering that Harmony, Tessa, and Emily were on top of him. Emily got up and off of them. Tessa then got up and played with her toy knife. And Harmony yawned before rolling off of him.

Ethan sighed, moving around to find his body ached more than it ever did before. He held out Ivan's broken glasses, and the boy's green eyes glinted out of disappointment. "Oh... they're broken. Well, that's okay." He picked them up and put them on.

"So... you guys followed us." Aiden's voice was barely above a whisper.

"Yeah we did!" grinned Tessa, "As if we weren't."

"Let's do this!" Harmony exclaimed, racing ahead to the next room.

"W-Wait for me!" Ethan completely forgot about the pain and jumped up to follow her.

Harmony stopped in the next room. "WOAH! It's a dog cat thing!"

Temmie was in front of her. "I don't get enough out of this." She mumbled, walking them through the basics of how the Underground worked. They didn't believe her, however, and Harmony shoved Ethan out of the way. She got hit by the bullets and played it off as if they didn't hurt.

Ethan knew it hurt her. He felt bad that he didn't realize Temmie's motives sooner.

Temmie laughed, "DIE!" The bullets circled the six children.

A glistening red fireball hit the Temmie out of the way.

"My children, are you hurt?" Asgore's voice was still overpowered with worry, despite how surprised he was to see six children. Chara would be delighted to meet them, he reminded himself, thinking about the young boy who still lived in the Ruins with him.

"I-I'm fine." Harmony tried to sound brave.

"You do not have to lie to me, my child. I am ASGORE, caretaker of the Ruins. I am very sorry you all had to deal with that... creature."

"It's okay. I've seen worse creatures. They're called humans." Ethan's voice was so quiet that not even Harmony picked up on what he said.

"I'm good!" exclaimed Ivan, his cracked glasses still shining.

"Yeah, I'm good." Tessa agreed, stifling back a yawn.

"I am fine." Emily gave him a curt nod.

"I-I think we're all okay..." Aiden informed him, his voice soft.

"I am glad. Come, my children. I will show you around the Ruins." Asgore gestured to the doorway and they followed him. Asgore led them through a bunch of puzzles, which Harmony led the way of. Ethan didn't want to get left behind so he was always running to catch up to her. Emily was observing all of the monsters, and Tessa was being reckless and trying to beat Harmony at all of the puzzles. Harmony didn't like puzzles, nor was she good at them, she just liked leading the way. Aiden sighed at Tessa's antics and walked beside his brother, who made comments about how he missed their mom and stuff.

All while Frisk watched. Her eyes glowed red in the shadows. She then disappeared back to Chara, floating above him.

Tessa burst into the house. "I SMELL PIE!" She yelled, looking around.

Harmony flinched. "It's just pie. No need to scream..."

Ethan nodded quietly in agreement.

"Tessa, please stop it..." Aiden stepped out from behind Ethan and Harmony.

She shrugged half heartedly. "Boring kid."

Aiden said nothing and looked at the decorations instead.

"W-Who are all of these people?" Chara asked, almost warily. He was sitting at the table by himself.

"I'm Harmony!" grinned the one with the orange soul, waving her hand.

"Tessa." She waved to the kiddo.

"Emily." Her voice was curt.

"Aiden." whispered the patient boy.

"Ivan!" He swished his hand back and forth when waving.

"And I'm Ethan." The final soul greeted.

"O-Oh... I'm Chara..." He told them, a small ghost peeking out from behind him. She was grinning and her faded red eyes were glowing.

Aiden took a step back, "T-There's a d-demon b-behind you!"

"Well, that's a first." The ghost snickered, "I'm Frisk, nice to meet you guys."

"Oh, well I'm-"

"Harmony, I know. Please skip the introductions. I've been here."

Aiden looked thoroughly shaken up by Frisk and inched away.

"I've never seen a ghost before." Emily was intrigued and walked around Frisk, her pencil hitting the paper in her notebook, "This is important data."

"I think it's really cool!" Ivan exclaimed, his pearly white teeth lined up in a perfect smile.

"Can I shoot it?" Tessa questioned.

"I'm a her, not an it." Frisk corrected with a snort, "And you can try, doesn't mean you'll hit me."

"N-Now Tessa, be n-nice!" Aiden scolded halfheartedly. He was still nervous about the whole ghost thing.

"Only because you're so worried, Aiden." Tessa rolled her eyes at him.

Ethan observed the dead girl thoroughly. He didn't seem to trust her, but I mean, who would?

Harmony was just happy to meet a ghost at this point.

"Anyways, sit down, pals. Have some butterscotch cinnamon pie." Frisk tried patting the seat next to Chara but her hand phased right through it.

Ethan sat down next to him. Harmony was sitting next to him, Ivan on her left, then Emily, Aiden, and Tessa until the whole table was full.

As if on cue, Asgore walked in with two plates of pie, going back into the kitchen to retrieve the other five that remained.

Ethan bit into his, cherishing the taste for a split second before feeling as if he had tasted something similar to this before... his eyes flashed with recollection and realization and he choked.

Everyone was instantly alert, and Harmony got up and did the Heimlich on him. He spat out the pie and wiped his mouth with sleeve, "Thanks..."

"My child, are you alright?" Asgore asked, clearly concerned.

"Y-Yeah, I'm good. It wasn't your fault I choked, really..."

"Come on..." the memory echoed through his mind, "Just try it..."

 _Ethan looked over at his now fallen mother, his eyes wide. He began shaking, "M-Mom! M-Mom!" He felt himself calling, reaching out his hand to her. She began fading away, "Come back! Please!" He begged._

"Ethan? Ethan!" Ethan zoned back in. Harmony had an immensely worried expression as well as Asgore.

"I-I'm sorry." He pushed away his plate, getting up from his seat, "I-I'm not feeling too well."

He began to walk away and out of the house.

"Wait! Ethan!" Harmony called after him.

"It's best we leave him alone." Tessa told her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

Harmony impulsively shoved her hand off, "No! I have to talk to him!" She insisted, running out the door.

Ethan was curled up back at the entrance of the Ruins. He was a mess. His eyes were puffy and there were dried tears on his face. The light was shining down on him from the surface ever so slightly, and he liked the feeling of it.

"Ethan?" A familiar voice echoed through the next room, "Are you there?"

Ethan didn't reply to her.

"Well, I just wanted to say that I'm here for you. I know you lost your Mom, and I know that's tough for you, but... all I can offer is my comfort. So, if you want any, you can come to me..."

Ethan felt touched by Harmony's words but didn't say anything, just hearing her footsteps slowly fade away and back to Asgore's home.

" _Where's Mom?" Ethan set down his backpack on the floor of his home, looking over at his Dad. His father bent down to his level, his hand gently on his shoulder, but still gripped onto it._

 _"Ethan... I don't know how to tell you this..."_

 _"Tell me what?"_

 _"Your mother's office caught on fire today... she could've chosen to leave, but she helped others evacuate... and unfortunately she didn't make it out of there..." He swallowed the lump in his throat, knowing how badly he had tried to explain it to his son._

 _Ethan felt his heart crack into a million pieces, "S-She's... dead?"_

 _"I'm afraid so..." He looked away from him._

 _There would be no more fun. No more laughter. No more pie._

 _In that moment, the weight of the world fell off of Ethan's shoulder. He began to sob, trying not to make it clear, but failing in the process. He was about ten at the time. His father wrapped his arms around him in a tight hug. Ethan hugged him back, his eyes watering as soon as tears fell down his cheeks._

 _Ethan slowly lost his grip on reality. Everything was ruined. His friendships, his grades, everything he had built up. He only knew how to trust his father and Harmony. Harmony understood what he told her, and he felt like she could be someone worth trusting._

He once again snapped back into reality and got to his feet. He sniffed and wiped his face. Again.

"I miss you, Mom..." he whispered softly, hoping that somewhere out there she could hear him. He walked slowly back to Asgore's home, finding that everyone was asleep. Except for Harmony, who was holding a dimly lit candle and sitting down on the floor thoughtfully.

Ethan slid down next to her, not saying anything. She set down the candle on the side table and offered him a hug. He accepted and she patted him, hoping that someday he would at least recover from it fully, even if he didn't forget it. Harmony eventually let go of him and blew out the candle, stretching out and quickly falling asleep.

Ethan sighed softly, but not unhappily. He was lucky to have Harmony as a friend, he decided for the millionth time, curling up and falling asleep a while later.

* * *

Aiden was the first one to wake up in the morning. " _Seems Ethan's back."_ He made a mental note to himself, getting to his feet and wobbling. He gained his balance, stepping slowly out of the room and over Tessa. He saw Asgore's big chair empty and climbed onto it. It was soft. He smiled to himself, relaxing.

"Hey, someone beat me to it!" came a voice from the doorway. It was Chara, his ghost "buddy," as Ivan had called it, floating next to him.

"Oh, do you usually sit here when Asgore isn't?" Aiden questioned curiously, "I can get off..."

"No, you're good where you are." He reassured, not moving from his spot at the doorway, "I expected someone to sit in it before me at some point, so it's perfectly fine."

"O-Oh... Thanks..." He forced a small smile. Aiden never usually did smiles.

"What's going on?" Tessa asked with a yawn, stretching as she entered the doorway. Her brown hair was in a more messy ponytail after sleeping.

"Aiden got the comfy chair." Frisk explained to her.

"Aw, no fair!" Tessa pouted, folding her arms.

"First come, first serve." Frisk snickered, her voice in a teasing tone.

"Well, I wanna join him!" Someone dashed passed Tessa. It was Ivan. He hopped onto the arm of the chair, plopped right next to his brother.

"Wait! I wanna sit there too! I got here before you did!" Tessa sat down on the other arm of the chair, clearly more satisfied at that.

"What's all the ruckus about? Harmony and Ethan are sleeping, if not trying to sleep." Emily stepped into the room, her eyes slightly narrowed. She stood straight and formally, refusing to look half as childish as the others.

"It's about the chair." Chara sighed. He was going to have a long day with these guys.

"I do not see the excitement over this chair." Her voice was confused and monotone.

"Me neither." Frisk shook her head, "Back when I was alive, we switched off by days."

"That seems fair!" Ivan exclaimed, nodded, "We should do it that way!"

"Fine." Tessa sighed, her eyes rolling.

And so the fight for the chair went on for eternity XD. The end.

* * *

 **Feel free to drop a review telling me who your favorite character(s) in the regular and Groupswap au are!**


	16. Grillby's

**CHAPTER ELEVEN**

"welp. i didn't expect to bring seven children with me to Grillby's today, but here we are." Sans remarked, his eyes closed as he stood in the snow in front of his favorite place- Grillby's.

"Just because I'm dead, doesn't mean I'm not child." Chara retorted with a huff and a small "Hmph" noise.

Sans shrugged.

"I wish to be included, Sans!" Chara nearly demanded, folding his arms angrily.

"okay, okay, fine. eight children." Sans corrected himself lazily.

"Can you elaborate on what Grillby's is exactly?" Harmony requested, twirling a loose strand of hair around her finger that had fallen out of her bun, "Like I know it's a restaurant, but what do they serve here?"

"burg and fries." Sans replied with a tired grin. Tessa was observing his jacket and how the top of the hood looked fluffy. It reminded her of a bunch of cotton balls smashed together.

"What's a burg?" Emily asked, blinking. Out of all of the foods the young chef had heard of, "burg" was not one of them on that list.

"you know, burg. have none of you ever heard of it...?"

"No..." answered Aiden slowly, confused. He pressed his hat down to cover more of the front of his hair.

"wow you guys are really uncultured." Sans said with a low whistle, his hands in his pockets.

"SO YOU'RE TELLING ME THEY DON'T SERVE CHICKEN NUGGETS HERE?" Ethan gasped overdramatically. Harmony couldn't help but sigh at his extremely... _loud_ question. She remembered when the two had went to a restaurant with both of their families and Ethan was absolutely appalled that they didn't serve chicken nuggets, refusing to order anything else and being plain out petty until Harmony had slowly managed to coax him into getting a bowl of soup, which he just whined about the whole time.

"what the heck is a chicken nugget." Sans questioned the kids, actually unaware.

"YOU'VE NEVER HEARD OF A CHICKEN NUGGET?" Ethan looked devastated. Harmony also recalled in the same memory that same question, except the waiter clearly knew what a chicken nugget was, but to Ethan's knowledge they had just never heard of one.

"what is a chicken."

"The horrors! You've never tried a chicken nugget!" Ethan didn't even want to think about that. Harmony simply sighed softly.

"Moving on." Tessa wanted to pick up the pace, "Shall we go inside?"

"ah. yeah, of course. sorry for the delay kiddos." Sans opened the door, "you kids first."

Frisk gave a thumbs up. Aiden tipped his hat and strolled in. Emily gave him a small thanks before walking in after him. Ivan's glasses glinted and he formally said, "thank you." Harmony grinned and gave him her own thanks, with Ethan in pursuit. Tessa gave a patient nod of thanks before walking in, whilst Chara didn't say anything and let himself get dragged in by Frisk. The door fluttered to a close behind Sans.

"So... this is Grillby's, huh?" Aiden inspected the room carefully, taking a moment to look at the other monsters. Tessa stopped right beside him and gulped a little at the amount of people- no, monsters- that were there.

"yep." Sans led the way to their seats on the bar stools. They all sat on them, Ivan nearly losing his balance when climbing onto them. As Aiden usually said, he was a bit of a klutz sometimes. Emily cast a small glare at Aiden because of the smirk on his face.

Grillby walked over to them, drying a plate.

"so, what do you kiddos want to eat? do you wanna see a burg before you order."

"Heck no, I'm hungry." Ethan's reply caused the group to collectively facepalm.

Sans blinked, "uh... okay then. i guess eight order fries, and i'll add on burgs if you want 'em. and just the usual for me, grillbs, plus a burg."

The flame man walked off to get their orders.

Frisk's memory flickered with a bunch of timelines where it was only her in Grillby's. Alone...

"Of all of the places I thought we would go on this adventure, a restaurant was definitely not one of them."

"welp. here you are."

"Thank you Sans, for that amazing observation." Aiden rolled his eyes, adjusting his gun placed carefully in his holster.

"no problem, buddy old pal." He said with a wink.

"I wish we were on the surface right now." Harmony stared at her hands, which were folded on her lap, "So far, this place hasn't been all that great."

"What do you mean, this place is great!" Ethan exclaimed enthusiastically. He was glad to be away from his parents.

"I get that you may be happy to be here, but I liked being with my family up there. I only came down here because some people decided to climb Mt. Ebott." She sent a glare at Aiden and Ivan.

Aiden looked guilty, but didn't reply.

"Hey, we all agreed to follow them! We're all in this together (*roll credits*), remember?" Ethan defended with a grin. His bandanna was blowing in the imaginary wind.

"I guess." She mumbled quietly, not knowing whether to agree or disagree with him.

"Well, we're all here now, so we shouldn't really complain about it." Emily offered a shrug. Tessa simply nodded, and Ivan was too focused on his notebook to actually look up.

"thanks grillbs." All of them looked over from what they were doing to see their food.

"It took long enough!" Ethan huffed. Harmony (lightly, she's not that evil) smacked the back of his head, "ow! Why did you do thatttttt?"

"He's probably the fastest person to ever serve us at a restaurant ever." Harmony told him with a slight glare, "Be a little more grateful."

"Approximately twenty minutes faster." Ivan added.

"I'M HUNGRY! NOW WHERE'S MY JUICE BOX." He slammed his fists on the bar. Harmony sighed for the umpteenth time that day, "Ethan, I don't think-"

"juice... box...?" Sans peeked open an eye socket.

"YEAH, A JUICE BOX! A FRUIT PUNCH ONE!"

"They're staring..." Tessa mumbled quietly, feeling her chest tighten a rubbed her back comfortingly and was actually not being a total reckless idiot for once. She couldn't help but smile at him for the small gesture that seemed to mean a lot to her, and of course Aiden couldn't help but smile back.

"um... we don't have whatever those are."

"THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS YOU DON'T HAVE JUICE BOXES?! WHAT DO YOU DRINK?!"

"Soda... water... um..."

"YOU CAN'T LIVE OFF OF SODA AND WATER!" Ethan protested, his arms folded. Apparently Ethan wasn't the smartest. Wait. We should know this by now.

"sure can."

"I OBJECT!" He screeched. Harmony sighed and nibbled on a fry.

Sans got his burger and opened up his bottle of ketchup.

"Wait... so... a burg is just... slang for a burger?" Emily blinked, attempting to clarify. She was extremely fascinated by this and confused at the same time, as well as Ivan.

"slang?" Sans questioned.

"It's when you shorten words." Ivan explained in the smallest amount of words he could, not in the mood to talk.

"oh. i do that all the time."

"Now I want a burger!" Ethan pouted.

Harmony couldn't help but roll her eyes, "Grillby... right?" The flame man nodded as he rubbed a dish with a cloth, "Could you please get a burger for Ethan..." She asked as politely as possible.

He shuffled off to go get another burger as Aiden devoured his fries. He probably could've eaten twenty large sizes of fries and still been hungry. Tessa silently disapproved as she relished her own fries.

Ivan chomped on his while writing things down in his notebook. Emily glanced at it, but didn't comment.

"now that you've gotten a look at a burg-" Sans drenched his burger in ketchup, "i can eat it."

Everyone with the exception of Aiden cringed, crinkling their noses. They all stared at him collectively.

"What...? I've seen worse." He told them, shrugging. He always freely ate barbecue and ketchup packets, which was actually a little disgusting, but at least the group was accepting of their differences.

"And you've done worse." Ivan couldn't help but add on.

"I won't deny it." He just grinned.

The rest of the meal was pretty uneventful except for the many comments Ethan made complaining about the temperature of his burger or that it was too soggy or something when it wasn't, and the rest of the group's disapproval. Sans took them back to where they were in Waterfall and stood at his post.

* * *

It had taken time, but it finally happened. The water was rushing gently in the same direction as the children were walking. Tessa gazed at it, amazed; however, Aiden kept things moving along by dragging her with him. Ivan stopped to sketch the waterfall for his notebook, but Aiden pulled him down the path as well. The other four (not including Chara) were walking down normally, and Harmony having a quiet and somewhat more normal conversation with Ethan, thanks to Emily. Emily just looked proud of herself with what she had accomplished. They walked into the tall grass, Aiden pushing past it with his free hand. Harmony stopped talking about whatever they usually talked about and froze when she heard footsteps from the ledge above her. This caused Ethan to stop, which caused the other five to stop.

"Hello, Undyne... I'm here to give you my daily report." Ethan heard the voice of the younger skeleton of the two brothers, Papyrus (my headcanon). He swallowed a little. If Undyne was as scary as Papyrus had described...

"Did you fight them?" asked the deep voice that made shivers go down Harmony's spine. Ethan prayed silently that she wouldn't notice they were there.

"Of course I fought them!" He heard him continue, "I fought them as any skeleton as noble as the Great Papyrus would do! But... did I capture them...? No, I didn't, Undyne. I am sorry, but... I did not capture the six humans... I even failed to capture the first one..." Papyrus's voice was both solemn and apologetic that he had failed to do his task.

"I'll take them myself then." Undyne's voice was not necessarily filled with disappointment, as she didn't exactly expect Papyrus to capture any in the first place. She showed a sharp and toothy grin.

"Y-You'll just take the seven souls yourself? B-But Undyne... they're not bad! I'm sure the king would love to make friends with them as I did!" Papyrus tried to defend happily.

She turned to look at him, "Papyrus. We need to shatter the barrier. That's our one mission. Got it?"

Papyrus took a small step back, "I-I understand, Undyne. I'll help you in anyway possible." He turned around with a frown and strutted off.

Undyne walked closer to the ledge and formed a spear. Ethan made sure to place himself in front of Harmony in case they were visible. Harmony's heart stopped.

Ivan didn't say anything. He wasn't that stupid. Emily's heart skipped a beat. Tessa was holding onto Aiden's arm. He silently placed a hand on his gun just in case.

The spear in her hand dissolved. And she walked off. The group all let out a sigh of relief and walked out of the reeds.

"That. Was. AMAZING!" yelled a monster from behind them. All of them collectively flinched.

"Who are you?" Aiden questioned, flipping around his gun on his finger. His dirty blonde hair was more ruffled thanks to his hat.

"I'm Monster Kid!" He replied, not giving them a chance to introduce themselves, "How'd you get her attention? I'm soooooooooooooooo jealous!" He beamed at them.

"Jealous? We could've been seriously injured, dude." Emily couldn't help but narrow her eyes, not wanting her friends to ever be in that type of danger.

"That was not pleasant." added Ivan, yet his tone was not filled with any emotion.

"I don't like attention." Tessa told him quietly.

"Eh. Easy enough." Ethan shrugged.

"Just by being awesome, I guess." Aiden gave him a lazy shrug, his hands in his hoodie pockets.

"Let's go watch her beat up bad guys!" He exclaimed excitedly.

"Won't that hurt them...?" Emily sounded worried.

"They'll be fine!"

"Okay..."

"I will go." Ivan nodded.

"Why not." Aiden once again shrugged.

"I'm up for it!" Frisk tried to sound cheerful whilst still remembering the other runs.

"Sure." Harmony played with her sleeves.

"Okay?" Tessa didn't know how to reply.

"I'll help her beat them up!" Ethan declared, holding up a gloved fist.

"Amazing. Child abuse." Chara snickered, his red eyes glowering when they opened up.

"Let's go!" Monster kid began to run to the doorway but fell flat on his face. This sent Emily into alarm.

"Are you okay?!" Emily rushed over and helped him to his feet somehow, despite him having no arms.

"I'm good! Now let's go!" He ran ahead, and the group all took a moment to glance at each other, before deciding the best of it and walking ahead.

And that's how their adventure in Waterfall begins.

* * *

A/N: Originally, I was going to make this chapter longer, but I realized it was more convenient to make Grillby's its own separate chapter with still having my goal amount of words (2K). I'm hoping to revise old chapters later on and add more details to them like I did this one and get them to naturally be at least 3K. Anyways, I'm sorry it took me so long to update, I got extremely writer's block and my break got pretty busy. But to you all, I hope you had Happy Holidays/A Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year, by extension. I am going to try and focus a little more on Emily and Tessa, as I feel their characters may be a little underdeveloped (I'm sorry!). I think I may be shoving a little too much _**Ethony** _Ethan and Harmony in your faces lately. I feel bad, but they're honestly so fun to write XD. Anyways, before this is longer than it already is, I'll see you next chapter!

Drop a review! Constructive criticism welcome as always, but no flames, please!


	17. The Waterfall

A/N: Hey, guys! Two chapters in two days, how fancy of me (doesn't update in month). Anyways, Tessa is completely credited to my friend Tigerflight. Man, I wouldn't have gotten this chapter done without her, because technically Tessa was her character. So enjoy! And Tigerflight is really coolio, she's into Warriors and stuff, so you should def check her out.

Here's the chappie!

 **CHAPTER TWELVE**

 **.:TESSA:.**

"He must've been pretty fast to not have to do these puzzles." Aiden remarked, stumped about the situation of the river between them and the other side. He had his head rested on his knuckle, disappointed

"So what? We can just walk through the water." Ethan dipped his feet it, but couldn't feel the ground or surface of the pool. He pulled his foot out and squeaked, "Nevermind, we'd have to wade it and that seems hard..."

Harmony covered her mouth to suppress a small giggle but straightened when Ethan was staring at her very unamused and very seriously, "I don't know how, to be honest... Um... Frisk...? Ivan? Tessa? Anything you guys have found?"

"Nope. I don't know." Frisk lied, shrugging her shoulders. What was the point in doing all of the puzzles for them?

"It's much more fun to see them struggle, hm?" Chara murmured in her ear. His eyes were glinting with amusement as that sounded like something he himself would say.

"It is." Frisk couldn't help but nod. It was just fun to see them stumped at a puzzle. A simple one, at that.

"I'm not aware of anything either." remarked Tessa with a sigh, her arms folded as she stared at the water, which gave her reflection that blinked back at her.

"Hm..." Ivan's eyes glistened with curiosity. He cleared his throat and started sketching a picture down in his notebook, "By my calculations, if we were to use those conveniently shaped flowers," He pointed at a patch of grass where a few flowers were, "considering that those flowers cover enough area, we should be able to walk across the lake on them."

"How did you... know that...?" Tessa had a mixture of being both intrigued and weirded out at the same time. Her eye twitched a little and she remembered not to question Ivan.

"It's simple." He replied with a shrug. He brushed his hair away from his glasses to see more clearly.

"Now that my brother is done with his weird nerd logic, let's try this thing." Aiden told the others, walking over to the patch of flowers and picking one up not so elegantly. Harmony made no comment but picked up a flower rather delicately and lightly walked back to the water. They all placed them down and, miraculously, could step across them with ease. Ethan, of course, went first and as fast as he could until he got to the other side. The others followed, and Tessa slowly stepped across to the other side. A monster flexed into the area.

"Pssh, this guy thinks he's all that." Ethan engaged in a fight with him,

"AARON, HUH? I have more muscles than you!" Ethan stuck out his tongue childishly, and Harmony groaned, "What muscles?"

Tessa's mind flickered in and out of reality,

* * *

 _"Do you think you can just come in here and think we won't talk about this?!" Tessa's mother practically roared._

 _"Honey..."_

 _"Don't honey me!"_

 _Tessa stepped out of her room and down the hall, careful to not be spotted._

 _She clutched her little bear tightly._

 _"You're leaving me with Tessa everyday and not returning till midnight!" Her mother spoke again, "Just what are you doing so late?!"_

 _Tessa heard a chair scrape meaning her father was standing up. "I. Work. Two. Jobs, Marsha." His voice was slow in anger, but calm. "You're the one who's wasting all our money on alcohol."_

* * *

"HARMONY, NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO INSULT MY STRENGTH!" He didn't turned to face her but simply flexed against Aaron. Harmony cringed and covered her eyes,

"S-Stop doing that!" She started laughing, which was a small giggle. It looked ridiculous to see some young teenager to try and flex against a monster.

"I'm just showing him my guns!" Ethan protested, flexing at the same time as Aaron.

Aiden cringed, "Never say that again. This is a gun." He held up his own gun, "That is... pathetic arm strength."

"Ooh. Exposed." Frisk whistled, looking up at Chara, who snickered himself.

"I'll show you-" Ethan was cut off by Aaron's obnoxious flexing hitting his soul and sending him down in health. He stood at his full height and flexed thrice as hard as before.

"Just you wait, Aiden." Ethan mumbled, passion burning in his eyes, "I'll show you pathetic arm strength in a minute."

"This is just really weird." Emily mused, half choking on air. As if on cue, Aaron flexed so hard that he flexed himself out of the room. Ethan made another "pssh" noise and then remarked, "He was a chicken." He then turned over to face Aiden, "Still insulting my strength now, wise guy?"

Aiden didn't seem to look fazed nor did he really care, "Yep."

"I'll show you-"

Harmony pulled him by the arm and further onto the next puzzle, and eventually he complained so much that he forgot he was mad.

Wow, Harmony's good. Except she over excessively dragged him across the dirt to get there. Ivan and Frisk solved the puzzle with no real trouble whatsoever. Aiden's phone rang and he flipped it out of his pocket, "Hello?"

"Hello! It is I, The Great Papyrus!" He announced with pride.

"Wait... how did you get this number?" Aiden questioned suspiciously, blinking, disturbed, as he was tempted to hang up but stayed polite, "I never gave you this number..."

All of the other kids looked a little on edge but made no comment so they would risk Papyrus hearing them.

"Oh! Simple! I just dialed every single number combination until I got to yours!" Aiden didn't need to be face to face with him to tell he was grinning from ear to ear- even though he doesn't have ears.

* * *

 _Tessa rubbed her eyes and padded in bare feet into view. "Daddy? What's going on?"_

 _Her father came over, picking her up and holding her. "Mommy and Daddy are just talking, Tess. How's your bear?"_

 _Tessa frowned. "His name is Grillby, Daddy! Remember?"_

 _He smiled brightly, nodding. "Yes, of course. Shall we get you and Grillby back to bed?"_

 _Tessa nodded sleepily. "Okay, Daddy," she murmured._

* * *

NYEH HEH HEH!" The skeleton practically screamed into the phone, causing Aiden to nearly drop it and switch the phone to the other ear so he could cover the other one, "So, anyways, what is the orange one wearing? I'm asking... for a friend."

"Um...!" Harmony started nervously, immediately thinking the worst.

"I'M TOTALLY NOT WEARING A BANDANNA!" Ethan shouted from where he was, causing Harmony to facepalm.

Aiden shot a glare, praying Papyrus didn't catch that, but, of course, he did.

"So you're not wearing a bandanna?" Papyrus tried to confirm for the second time.

"Nope!" Ethan sweat-beaded, "I'm not wearing a bandanna!"

"You guys are my friends, so I trust you all to tell me the truth 100%!" There was a click and the call ended, the others beginning to walk into the next room.

"You coming, Tess?" Aiden threw his hair out of his eyes for the fifteenth time that hour and turned around to face her.

Tessa gazed in wonder at the beautiful rivers and waterfalls around them. It was just like... like...

* * *

 _"Daddy! Lookie! I'm a mermaid!" Tessa splashed as best she could in an attempt to swim faster._

 _Her father had taken her to some sort of resort with a lake that was at the foot of a gentle waterfall. With the bright sunlight bouncing off the water, a rainbow appeared to be shimmering. Tessa's eyes widened at the sight._

 _"Daddy! Look at all the pretty colors!"_

 _Her father looked over at her from where he was resting at the edge of the water. He smiled. "That's wonderful, sweetie!"_

 _He went back to his phone, Tessa overhearing him. "Yes, Judge, I understand. Yes, she gave me the papers. One week?! Only one in the month?! But that's not fair! I get equal rights to seeing her!" He sighed. "Alright. Yes, I'm on my way there now. I'll be there within the week and we can discuss this more. Thank you, goodbye."_

* * *

"...Tess?" Aiden poked her cheek lightly with his index finger.

Tessa jumped. "Y-yes?"

"You coming?" He repeated, trying not to lower his ego by sounding worried.

Tessa nodded, trying to blink away the memories. "Yeah... I'm coming..."

Ivan cleared his throat, "I believe this is another new monster," He announced, almost sounding a tad bit distraught as he didn't have time to sketch the monster who was fighting him, but masked his disappointment as best as he could, "so it looks like I'm meant to defeat it."

"Yeah, you get him, baby bro!" Aiden cheered with a small wink and fingergun.

Ivan scrolled through the options, and then immediately regretted what came out of his mouth, "Will you clean me?"

Woshua hopped around excitedly, and sprayed a jet of water at him, with a few stray green water droplets that flung out of the stream. Ivan was drenched and at low HP by the end of it, but didn't seem to be bothered by it all that much. They kept walking and arrived into the next room, Tessa still slightly out of it.

* * *

" _Daddy, what's happening?" Tessa asked as her dad put another blue suitcase in his car._

 _"You and I are going for a little trip!" He grinned at her._

 _Tessa brightened. "Are we staying in a hotel?! Can Grillby come too?!"_

 _He chuckled. "Of course he can come! You have everything? I already packed a bag!"_

 _Tessa bounced up and down. "Yep! Wait!" She rushed up to her room, grabbing her Polaroid camera. "We can take pictures!" she exclaimed. "Then Mommy won't feel left out!"_

 _Her dad's expression changed from happy to sad then back to happy again. "What a great idea! Get in!"_

 _Tessa bounced into the seat, excited to spend time with her father._

* * *

Emily bent over to observe the flower more, and Ivan sketched it,

"What's with this weird stuff on the wall?!" Ethan questioned, pointing at it obliviously.

"Ancient writing." Was Frisk's reply. She walked closer to one and then backed away, "Ivan, you can read." She directed him to it.

Ivan began reading the writing on the wall, "The War Of Humans and Monsters."

Harmony squinted at the board she was in front of, "Why did the humans attack? Indeed, they had nothing to fear. Humans are unbelievably strong. It would take the soul of nearly ever monster... just to equal the power of a single human soul." She glanced back at the others with a small worried expression.

"But humans have one weakness. Ironically, it is the strength of their own soul...?" Emily didn't like the sound of that, but kept reading, tucking some hair behind her ear, "Its power allows its soul to persist outside the human body, even after death."

"If a monster defeats a human, it can take its soul. A monster with a human soul... a beast with unfathomable-"

"There's an ugly monster on mine!" Ethan interrupted, cringing. They couldn't blame him; after all, the image was extremely unsettling.

"I did not need that today." Aiden blinked, backing away a little.

"Let's step on this boat thing, as there's somewhere across the water!" Emily pointed across for them to see. Harmony nodded and Ethan jumped on, rocking the whole thing, which nearly made Harmony lose her balance and fall into the water. She folded her arms as the rest of them stepped onto the boat and it started across. They got off at the end, and continued on.

Aiden was pretty much pulling Tessa along at this point, making sure to stay ahead of the others at the same time. He was worried she would forget to walk and be left behind.

* * *

 _Tessa looked over at all the boxes._

 _"Dad, are we moving again?"_

 _He sighed tiredly and nodded. "I'm sorry, Tess. I'm really trying..."_

 _Tessa hugged her dad. "I know, Dad. Where to now?"_

 _"We'll have to move back to (insert town the mom lives in here)," he answered. "I've gotten a good job offer that might be able to stick this time!"_

 _Tessa brightened, but her smile faded quickly. "But... I don't want to live by Mom..." she mumbled. "She'll get mad at me again... and throw things... and talk funny when drinking apple juice and grape juice..."_

 _Her dad frowned, anger lighting his eyes for a second. "If she does anything, you know you can call me and I'll keep you safe, okay? Can you do that for me, Tessabear?"_

 _Tessa nodded, tearing up. "Okay, Daddy..."_

* * *

They started walking down the bridge, Tessa a little more zoned in for the time being. Harmony was at the front of the pack, and a glowing spear she didn't realize was beginning to get aimed at her. She was deep in thought about her brother.

Frisk's mind screamed, and her vision flickered, as if she could see a timeline in which she was speared right through the chest. Before she could act, Ethan shoved her out of the way, along with himself, but then both standing on their feet. He grabbed her hand and ran, "Harmony, pay more attention next time!"

Harmony felt guilty for not noticing, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." She whimpered quietly as Ethan stopped at the edge of the bushes and clamped a hand over her mouth.

Wait.

What?

Ethan, the most talkative person in the whole world, put a hand over Harmony, one of the quietest people in the world's, mouth.

What is up with this story anymore? Anyways, back to the actual story.

Everyone stopped dead in their tracks. Tessa felt like she was dead. She should've been dead. But she wasn't. Undyne had walked over, but picked up Monster Kid's head. She placed him back down. And walked away.

When they got into the next room, Ethan immediately burst out, "HARMONY, WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? You nearly died!"

"I... was distracted... I should've been looking. I'm sorry." Harmony looked at her feet shamefully and shook her head.

"What would we have done if I didn't shove you out of the way?! Don't scare me like that again!" He gave her such a tight hug that he could've suffocated her. Harmony didn't seem to mind though. She hugged him back.

Once again, Tessa was zoned out.

* * *

 _Tessa glanced worriedly around. What was she doing here? She DID NOT want to be back here... but since her mother was on another of her rampages, Tessa decided it was safer to be away from her than in the house._

 _She shoved her hands into her pockets as she walked, her head down. She couldn't wait until she could live with her dad again, but that wouldn't be for two weeks..._

 _She tried to swallow back the hopeless tears, but they still came, running down her face._

 _Unknowingly, she crashed into a boy around the same age, but older. He crashed to the ground and winced, "Ow..." He was staring at his casted arm and hoping it was still okay._

 _Tessa's eyes widened. "Are you okay?" she asked, astonished._

 _"Oh, yeah, I'm fine." He brushed it off and got back to his feet like it was nothing, "Are_ you _okay?"_

 _"Uh... yeah?" Tessa mumbled, still surprised._

 _A different girl walked over and shouldered the boy. "Wow. Good job there, buddy. Anyone else to want to slam to the ground?" She grinned at Tessa. "I'm Emily, and this human pancake-maker is...?"_

 _"The name's Aiden." Aiden grinned, amused, fixing his casted arm a little,_ _then glancing back at Tessa with a soft expression, "Who are you?"_

 _Tessa smiled, finally feeling relaxed. "My name is Tessa."_

* * *

"Tessa...?" All seven of the other kiddos were staring at her.

"Oh? What?" She shook her head and finally, completely, she was zoned in.

"Are you okay?" They all asked in unison, wanting to make sure she was okay before continuing.

"I'm sorry, guys! I was thinking... what's gonna happen when we make it back to the surface...? Will our parents... want us back...?" She asked the last part in a whisper.

All of them fell silent. Aiden was the first to speak,

"Let's just... cross that bridge when we come to it." He didn't meet eyes with anyone, "Let's just keep going."

In silence, the group walked along...


	18. The Bridge

**Alright, just saying, for what's coming up, Ethan definitely deserves this chapter. Also, mentions of Asriel and Chara's death in this chapter, so yeah.**

 **CHAPTER THIRTEEN**

 **.:ETHAN:.**

"Man, you guys are soooooo unlucky!" Monster Kid continued as they strolled down the trail as casually as possible. Aiden rolled his eyes, not caring to hear about anything this person was saying anymore.

"We know Monster Kid, you've told us twenty times now." Aiden mumbled with his arms folded as they walked. He looked like such a child. The waterfall had a gentle flow as they passed it.

"heya, kiddos, over here." Sans would've waved from where he was, but wasn't feeling it in his bones. He was wearing his pink slippers, as always. They glanced at each other before walking over to him.

"usualllllllly, this master ultra telescope is 5000G to use. but, since you're my friends, i'll let ya use it for free. howzabout it?"

Harmony looked reasonably suspicious, Ivan didn't care, Emily wasn't certain and Tessa wasn't feeling it. Frisk was too busy making sure everything in the timeline was still normal after what had happened on the bridge and Ethan was just being dense and hotheaded, obviously.

"Oh yeah! Let me use this thing!" Ethan tightened his fist and punched the air before looking into it. There was a lot of silence besides Ethan fiddling with the telescope.

"THERE'S NOTHING HERE!" Ethan huffed, pulling his face away, rising anger tinting his tone. There was a ring of ink around his eye, "THIS IS SOME STUPID JOKE."

"Um... Ethan... you've got a little... something... there on your face." Harmony pointed to her left eye, acting as a mirror for him. She was trying to be supportive and not laugh at how ridiculous he looked.

Ethan brushed his finger over the ring, but barely got any on his finger, "What's this." He asked in a serious tone with his blood boiling.

Harmony wiped the rest of it off of his eye to tell better, "It... it's ink..." She murmured, not wanting to tell him that because she knew what his reaction would be.

"Hey! Skeleton dude! That's not cool!" Ethan was about to lung at him, but luckily there were six kids to restrain him from doing so.

Tessa dug into her pocket and pulled out a napkin from Grillby's. Harmony pulled Ethan back and wiped it across the whole ring off, "There... it's gone..."

Ethan scowled at Sans and clenched his fists.

"woah. apparently someone doesn't like pranks. my puns must be too sansational for this one, if he doesn't like pranks."

"That was terrible..." Ivan frowned, staring directly at him. The sound of a waterfall could be heard in the distance.

"All of his puns are terrible." Aiden explained with a yawn, "All puns in general are terrible."

"don't worry kiddo, i'll give you a full refund." Sans gave him a lazy wink.

"I didn't even pay anything!" He barked at the skeleton.

Sans disappeared before Ethan could beat him up.

"Let's just keep going." Emily declared, taking the path up ahead, which had rivers on both sides of it. There were echo flowers that were illuminating near them,

"So? Don't you have any wishes to make?" They walked by them but they were all still paying attention to the flowers they heard voices from.

"...hmm, just one, but... it's kind of stupid." The reply from the other flower was.

The group kept walking, Tessa on guard for any monsters nearby, when she heard Ethan declare-

"It's my favorite opponenttttttt! The jellooooo!" He cheered as he encountered two Moldsmals.

"Just spare them. It's yellow." Harmony told him quietly, wanting to move on due to how unnerved she was feeling by the flowers. Ethan ignored her and fought them as he wanted to. He could be such a child sometimes. Or all the times.

The phone rang when they continued down the path, and Aiden held it up to his ear, "Hello? Aiden speaking."

"It's the Great Papyrus~!" He said in a sing song tone, "Remember when I asked the orange one about his clothes?" He asked in a cheery tone.

"Oh. Yeah. What about that?" Aiden was resting his left hand in his hoodie pocket.

"Well, you see... the friend who wanted to know... her opinion of you is very... murdery..." He attempted to explain in a smaller voice, "But worry not humans! Papyrus would never betray you all!"

The group collectively sighed a little too soon.

"Since the orange one said he was not wearing his bandanna anymore, I actually told her he was wearing a bandanna!"

"Wait, Papy-" Ethan was cut off by his new sentence,

"As much as it pained me to tell such a lie to one of my closest friends, it will keep him safe. And the rest of you will be safe!" None of them were able to tell him that Ethan actually was wearing his bandanna.

"WOWIE... it's hard being a good friend to everyone." There was a click and the call ended.

"I refuse to take off my bandanna." Ethan folded his arms and held his head high. His bandanna was given to him by one of his favorite people in the endless void that is existence, and he would feel strange without it.

"But what if-" Tessa started in her normal tone, which was just worry.

"If she wants to kill me, I'm going down looking like myself!" He declared in a triumphant tone, and all of them were too tired to argue with his logic.

"Don't say that! I promise I won't laugh!" One of the flowers made Harmony squeak, as she wasn't expecting that.

Ivan read a new inscription on the wall, "The power to take their souls. This was the power the humans feared."

"I'm not understanding any of this..." Emily couldn't help but frown, trying to put together the pieces of the puzzle, but not fully getting the concept.

Ivan scribbled this information down, but shared none of it with them. He slammed his notebook shut, "Let's just continue, guys."

"But Ivan...? Why won't you tell us what any of this means?" Tessa questioned him softly, trying to coax some information out of him.

"I have not collected enough data to confirm my suspicions. Let us just continue." He replied, walking forward without letting them respond, nor protest.

They followed after him, hearing a creature moving around in the water near them. Harmony squeaked and edged to the other side as she saw a rising tentacle from the water. Tessa looked disturbed by seeing it and sped up her pace. Before the octopus could interact with anyone, they were at the other side.

There was a squeal from Harmony as she encountered Shyren.

"Harmony, it's your twin!" Aiden grinned with a mischievous face plastered on. Tessa deadpanned. Ivan sighed. Emily stared. Frisk snickered.

"WHAT, Harmony isn't hideous!" Ethan gestured to Harmony and Shyren. Harmony slightly blushed and played with her sleeves, "THAT THING IS BUT NOT HARMONY?!"

Aiden smirked and Ethan just glared at him for making such a comment. Harmony started humming a pretty tune and Shyren joined in.

"Whatcha humming?" Emily questioned curiously.

"O-Oh... just a song... I-I created it a long time ago..." Harmony explained quietly, brushing some hair to the side of her face, "I-I never made lyrics to it, but I created it to play on my violin..."

"That's so cool!" She grinned at her good friend, "I remember making songs in music class, and that got icky fast."

"I'm terrible at music!" Ethan complained, dragging his hands over his eyes to add more "dramatic effect."

Putting her focus back on Shyren with a small laugh, she spared her. Ivan wasn't even paying attention the whole time and just staring at the wall again.

"Read it to us, Iv." Aiden didn't really request it, it was more of a polite command.

"This power has no counter. Indeed, a human cannot take a monster's SOUL. When a monster dies, its soul disappears. And an incredible amount of power would be needed to take a living monster's soul. There is only one exception. The SOUL of a special species of monster called a 'boss monster.' A boss monster's soul is strong enough to persist after death. If only for a few moments... a human could absorb this soul. But this has never happened. And now it never will."

"How do you tell a boss monster apart from a regular monster?" Tessa inquired aloud.

"You'd have to kill them." Ivan's voice lowered when he replied, "That's what I'd assume."

Everyone looked shook at this reply, but kept walking. They walked past a statue getting rained on. There was a Waterfall gushing from above as they trodden on the leaves and down the trail. There was a bucket of umbrellas. Aiden started using his umbrella as a jousting stick. Tessa sighed and followed after him. Harmony didn't grab one and just kept walking. Ivan didn't really care but Emily held one over both her and him as they walked. Frisk grabbed one and walked back to the statue, placing it on its head. Both her and Chara could remember a distant memory.

* * *

" _I... don't wanna do this anymore, Chara. Please! Come back! I need you!" Asriel laid at his best friend's death bed, trying to shake his hand to wake him. Toriel and Asgore had both agreed to leave him alone with him after they were certain he had passed. His soul appeared, Asriel sniffling. He placed a paw to the soul and took it._

* * *

Chara grimaced at the memory and Frisk watched him silently.

* * *

 _Asriel crossed the barrier, holding Chara's body gently and taking him back to his old village so he could see the flowers one last time._

 _But it didn't work. As he brought him back, many of the inhabitants stared at him, and then they all started attacking him. Chara was trying to kill them. Asriel was hesitating and trying to hold back._

 _"Fight back." Chara demanded in his mind, "They'll kill you."_

 _"I'm so sorry. I can't do it." Asriel was on the verge of sobbing as Chara used his half of the control to shoot a fireball._

 _And then he was eventually slaughtered by the humans. Slowly, he trudged back home with Chara's body intact. When he got there, his parents saw him and rushed over. Too weakened to have a chance at survival, Asriel slumped over on the ground, and transformed back into himself. It wasn't hard to tell; he was gone._

* * *

Chara stared at the statue, thinking about his best friend solemnly. His expression was dark; he had seen this too many times.

"Let's just keep going, Frisk." He told her, beckoning her back to the others as he tagged along with no choice.

"Woah, you guys have umbrellas? Cool!" Frisk heard Monster Kid remark like all of the other resets. There was no reply from neither Harmony nor Ivan. Aiden just simply shrugged and they kept walking. Rain was falling rapidly, beginning to cover Harmony's entire head from lack of protection of an umbrella. But she didn't mind; after all, Harmony loved the rain.

"Man, Undyne is sooooo cool! She beats up bad guys all the time! If I were a human like you, I would get to wake up each morning knowing she wanted to beat me up, haha!" Monster Kid chuckled as they turned the corner. There was an unsettling silence in the air.

"This one time, we had a school project where we had to take care of a school project! This one dude, lets cal him Mister Dreemurr, even offered to donate his own flowers! He ended up coming to the school and talking about responsibility and stuff." He continued, beginning to get on Aiden's nerves from the rambling, "That got me thinking. What if UNDYNE came to our school? She could beat up all the teachers for us!" They kept walking down the path and turned another corner, "Or maybe not. She's too cool to hurt an innocent person!"

"Is that a... castle?" Tessa asked in wonder, being overtaken by the breathtaking structure in the distance.

"That looks so cool!" Emily grinned, looking over at it.

"AMAZING, right?" Monster Kid added. Harmony nodded in agreement, looking at it herself.

"Cool! A castle!" Ethan pumped a fist in the air enthusiastically.

"It's nice." Aiden agreed with a small yawn. A shadow was cast over the group, and their silhouettes hung behind them. After staring for a bit longer, they continued on. They had gotten to a bucket to put back their umbrellas. Aiden was reluctant at first, but did put his umbrella back after some persuasion. Monster Kid frowned at the ledge, "Aw, that's too steep!" Then a lightbulb went off in the yellow dinosaur's head,

"You guys wanna see Undyne, right? Then just climb on my shoulders."

"That's ridiculous-" Tessa began when Ethan shoved Harmony forward a little, "Harmony will go first."

Harmony glanced at him and narrowed her eyes slightly before she climbed up Monster Kid and onto the slope. One by one, they all went up to the ledge, and Ethan barrel rolled when trying to get up.

"I'll go find a different way up!" Monster Kid declared, rushing off, but not without tripping, "Don't worry about me! I always do!"

"Another entry." Ivan wasn't even near the group anymore and wasn't paying attention to Monster Kid's departure whatsoever.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Read it!" Aiden prompted quickly.

"The humans, afraid of our power, declared war on us. They attacked suddenly and attacked with no mercy. In the end, it hardly could be called a war. United, the humans too powerful, and us monsters, too weak. Not a single soul was taken, and countless monsters turned to dust..." Ivan wrote this all down in his notebook after reading it.

"So... the war... it was our fault." Emily sighed quietly in confirmation, brushing her bangs away from her face, "How foolish of us..."

"Maybe... it doesn't have to end in a bad way. It can end with freedom of monsterkind." Harmony suggested, her voice a little louder than usual, "We can all be happy?"

"I like that." Ethan agreed, his voice timid and at a regular volume for once. They walked onto a bridge as they discussed the situation, when suddenly, a few spears started spiking up from the bridge. The group began running from said spears, encountering dead ends until they finally found what they thought was the correct path- but it was a trick. A dead end. Undyne was in front of them, and at the blink of an eye, with a sharp and pointed spear, she had cut their part of the bridge off. The whole thing shook and Tessa tumbled off.

"Tess!" Aiden dove after her as if he was diving into a pool, except for their was no water. The other five tumbled off as well, plummeting towards the ground a mile a second. Ethan made sure he was underneath Harmony and kept his arms around her chest so that his body would shield most of the impact. His bandanna was flowing upwards. As well as Tessa's ribbon. He didn't know what would happen at the bottom, but he was too concerned about her well-being to want her to possibly die on impact. He tried focusing on everything that had ever happened to him. Frisk looked like she was skydiving in the position she was in and Ivan and Emily were in the same position. Aiden was trying to keep his hat on his head so he kept a hand placed on it.

"Get ready for a rough landing!" Frisk yelled over the wind coming at them from the speed they were going at. Ethan winced.

Then, with a loud crash, he hit right into the garbage with all of Harmony's weight right on top of him.

* * *

 **HEHEHEHEHEHE**


	19. Mad Dummy and Napstablook

**CHAPTER FOURTEEN**

 **.:AIDEN:.**

"Harmony! Harmony! Wake up! Get up!" Harmony peeled open her eyes to see Emily, Tessa, and Aiden hovering over her.

"What...? What's going on...?" She rubbed her eyes and sat up. They were all gathered around in a pile of trash.

"You're okay!" Emily's eyes lit up at that, "Oh my gosh, you scared us half to death!"

"I was not scared at all." Ivan defended, in his spot a few feet away from the others.

"Hey, where's Ethan?" Harmony looked around the trash pile before seeing him really beat up and passed out.

"Oh... well, we took you off of him because it seemed he purposefully placed himself under you so that when you fell his body would take ninety five percent of the damage." Tessa explained after some thought.

"I don't remember that... ack, my head..." She placed a hand to her head, only to finally realize she had a massive migraine and her vision was blurry.

"I don't think we can just wait here..." Frisk put in, not around until now, yet she was leaning against the wall foot deep in the water, "They'll find us."

"But Ethan-" Harmony began to protest when Aiden interrupted, "I'll just carry him."

"Aiden," Tessa began with a small sigh, "There's no way you can-"

Aiden had the boy perched on his back, smirking, "You were saying?"

"...show off." She mumbled quietly, folding her arms. She liked Aiden but never would admit it to anyone, even herself.

"...is he really safe on your shoulders...?" Harmony questioned worriedly, pursing her lips. She didn't like the idea of Aiden carrying her best friend as dangerously as he was.

"Of course! I'm careful as all hell!" said Aiden as Ethan nearly fell off of his shoulders. He then played it off as nothing and whistles as he readjusted him on his back.

"That," Tessa closed her eyes, exhaling as she pinched the bridge of her nose, "is the exact opposite of careful."

"I-I don't like this idea!" Harmony squeaked thoughtfully, "You're gonna get him killed!"

"It appears this is extremely unsafe and idiotic." Ivan's eyes flashed as he spoke in his monotone voice. He also didn't like the idea of his moron of a brother to carry someone.

"Pssh. Let's just go." He began walking down the path with Ethan on his back. Somehow, a fourteen year old could carry someone close to the same age. **Don't question it.**

Harmony followed him, her gaze kept on Ethan as she followed Aiden and prayed he wouldn't drop her best friend and make his condition worse.

Aiden walked passed a dummy. One similar to the one in the Ruins. Emily locked eyes with it for a moment but felt strange about it and walked faster.

"Too intimidated to fight me, huh?!" Emily felt a shiver go down her spine. She slowly turned around.

"I am a ghost living inside of a dummy! My cousin used to live inside one too, until you came along!" It wasn't hard to tell that the statement was directed at Emily; however, the others all took a step back from the dummy.

"When you talked to them, they thought they were in for a nice chat... but the things you said! Disgusting! Unbelievable! HORRIBLE!" It boomed, his voice louder.

"Compliments...?" Emily questioned, a little bit baffled at what the heck it was even spewing.

"It spooked them right out of their body! So, human, I'm gonna scare your soul out of your body!" He declared, initiating a fight.

"I don't think you should touch Emily..." Ivan warned, even though he was slightly occupied by his sketch of the dummy.

A few bots surrounded Emily, "So futile!" Mad Dummy mused. The hairs on her arms were sticking up as she dodged the attacks sent with as much grace as possible. The attacks ended up hitting the Mad Dummy, and he cursed before saying, "Ow! You dummies! Watch where you're aiming you magic attacks!" Mad Dummy scolded, scowling at them.

"Magic...?" Emily asked quietly.

"FORGET I SAID ANYTHING!" The dummy demanded, looking nervous.

"We can forget all of this! Let's just... end this fight!" Emily suggested, trying to look tougher, but ultimately failing. She just frowned to herself at her failed attempt.

"Just keep it up, Em!" Tessa called, both hands cupped around her mouth. Aiden was steadying Ethan on his back. Harmony looked purely worried. And Ivan... was just being Ivan.

She kept dodging, her short hair flowing behind her. The bots kept attacking the dummy due to the easy pattern Emily had identified, which half made Ivan proud.

"I'll TAKE YOUR SOUL AND CROSS THE BARRIER!"

"In your wildest dreams!" shouted Aiden, resisting the temptation to pull his gun out. Emily kept trying to talk to the dummy. Then the dummies threw their attacks once more and it hit Mad Dummy, which just made him more mad.

"YOU'RE ALL FIRED AND BEING REPLACED!" Dummy shouted at his minions. They dispersed.

"DUMMIES! BOTS! MAGIC! MISSILES!" The dummy sang demonically as robots minions were trying to destroy her soul. He was dancing around, clearly insane in some way and form (aren't we all).

Emily sighed, catching on quickly and using the same technique. She was understanding the whole ordeal a bit better.

"No way. These guys are even WORSE than the last ones! YOU GUYS ARE FIRED! ALL OF YOU! FRIENDS ARE FOR THE WEAK!" He started cackling, "I DON'T NEED FRIENDS! I HAVE KNIVES!" He summoned one and tried to throw it at Emily, but she agilely dodged it, sweat beads appearing on her forehead.

"And I'm... out of those too..." He glanced away, but quickly looked back at her, "YOU CAN'T HURT ME! I CAN'T HURT YOU! WE'LL BE STUCK HERE... FOREVER!"

Suddenly, a few raindrops dropped down and onto his head, "What is this, acid rain? I'm outta here!"

"oh... i... interrupted, didn't i? i'm sorry..." Nabstablook appeared, looking depressed as always, "because i came over, your friend left... and you looked like you were having fun..."

"Nonono!" Emily interrupted, "I- we weren't-"

"oh no... i just wanted to say hi..." He frowned, "oh no..."

"Hey! That's okay!" Emily reassured, her soul disappearing to signify the fight was over. She started to follow him.

"well... i'm going to go home now... feel free to 'come with' if you want... no pressure or anything... it's fine if you're busy... no worries... just thought I'd suggest it..." He then floated through the doorway and to his home. Most of them stared.

"Nice job handling that, Em!" Aiden gave her a high five with a grin. Yes, he still did this while carrying Ethan on his back. Don't think I forgot about him.

"Thanks." She smiled at him before looking addressing what she said next to the rest of the group, "So, shall we carry on?"

"It appears so." Ivan nodded, closing his notebook.

"And I'm up for it!" Aiden agreed. He was up for anything if it meant moving on from the dump.

"Let's go." Harmony pumped one of the most sad and unenthusiastic fists ever. Aiden stared at her blankly but led the way.

"Ivan, can we talk...?" He finally had noticed a change in his brother from a few years ago.

"Not now." He answered flatly, walking off to talk to Emily or something.

Tessa patted his arm, frowning. Was there a difference between the old Ivan and this Ivan...?

Emily stared at Ivan's notebook the whole time they were talking, _"I have to get inside that notebook..." She thought, "I saw something important... something... bad..."_ Ivan was one of her best friends, but he was always acting really mysterious and confusing to her.

Frisk fixed her eyes on the kind girl curiously. She was already strange...

* * *

There were three paths, Napstablook floating down the one in the center. The kids glanced at each other before walking down it. Tessa's hand clutched the right houses's door handle. She pulled on it and tried twisting it, but it was no use. It was locked. She walked over to the other one and twisted it, the door opening.

"I... guess this is Napstablook's home then." Aiden pulled Ethan up on his back again. Ethan looked really peaceful in his sleep.

"It appears so." Ivan agreed, fixing his glasses. Emily bounced into the house. Harmony was just... quiet. Guess most of the time she only spoke because Ethan did.

"oh... you came... i actually wasn't expecting that, sorry... i know it's not much, but... make yourself at home, I guess."

The group dispersed around the room, which was a little cramped.

"Spookwave?" Emily tilted her head to the side as she looked at the CD on the floor with the label plastered on it.

"that's one of my 'jams'." Napstablook said in a depressing tone.

"Can we hear it?" Emily then questioned the ghost. She was pretty interested in the ghost's mixtapes.

"oh... sure..."

The first melody played. Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo...

 _"WHY IS THERE NOTHING EDIBLE IN HERE?" Ethan cried desperately, "LIKE, NOT GHOST FOOD."_

Harmony was staring at the fridge whilst thinking about this, seeming kinda out of it.

Emily curiously listened to the other two CDs. They were called Spooktunes and Ghouliday music.

"after a great meal, i like to lay on the ground and feel like garbage... it's a family tradition... so... do you guys want to join me?" Napstablook laid down on the ground. Or just hovered above it. Whatever you want to say.

"Sure!" Emily grinned, relaxing. She laid down on the ground, staring at the ceiling.

"Feeling like trash is nice." Ivan was next to her, rubbing the lenses of his glasses with his shirt.

Frisk yawned, "And sleep inducing..." she closed her eyes, looking ready for a nap.

 _"I DON'T GET THE PURPOSE OF THIS!" Ethan screeched, obviously a dense idiot._ Harmony was once again lost in her thoughts about what she was thinking he would say if conscious. Even though Ethan was next to her, just without consciousness.

"You're not going to let one minute pass without thinking about him, are you?" Tessa shook her head with a soft sigh. She honestly found it amusing that Harmony cared so much.

"I-I'm worried!" Harmony attempted to use as an argument, but of course it failed, causing a bit of silence for a minute.

"You're kinda out of it though. We need to be on guard, so stay alert and stop zoning out on us, Alright?" Aiden asked, feeling relaxed on the wooden floor.

"Okay..." Harmony replied, not really paying attention. GREAT JOB.

They actually were just lying there for a while before Emily got to her feet, "I think we need to get going. Thanks for letting us hang out, Napstablook." Emily grinned at the ghost kindly before waiting for the rest of her friends to get to their feet. Aiden was quick, but had to get Ethan back on his back, so there was that. Harmony was quiet and barely made a noise when she got to her feet. Ivan didn't care, Frisk hopped back to her feet, and Tessa slowly rose back up.

"Let's go y'all." Aiden told the others with as thick of an accent as he could pull off. He knew he was annoying the others, but that was what was fun for him.

Ivan sighed at his irresponsibility and overall annoying personality. Couldn't he shut up for one minute? Aiden was pretty skeptical that Ivan didn't want to talk to him all that much anymore. Ivan use to like him. So why didn't he anymore?!

* * *

Finally, they were back out and walking again. Harmony was constantly distracted by the Waterfall and its beauty. If Ethan was around, he'd be dragging her. But since he wasn't, Harmony just zoned back in and walked.

Frisk walked alongside them, her head hung. They would never know of her abilities until the end. When they got to Asgore. When she needed them. Right now, they were strangers. They died in the other resets anyways. She couldn't change that. The group walked into a shop.

Wow! A turtle!" Was what Harmony thought Ethan would say, but she ended up saying it herself, which was a really strange thing for her to say. Everyone in unison blinked at her. Even Ivan. But except for Ethan. He was still passed out.

"It's... a tortoise..." Ivan corrected after a bit of silence. He liked Harmony, he thought she was nice. But she also confused him sometimes. Like, a lot.

Harmony flushed, "s-sorry...! I wasn't trying to say that..." She put her hands behind her back and made some unsure face.

"It's just your inner Ethan." Emily nearly screeched. Just kidding. She just grinned as she said it.

"Inner Ethan?!" She squeaked, confused, "What does that mean?!" She blushed slightly at the thought though.

"Nothing." Tessa hummed for Emily.

"Hello there! I've got some neat junk for sale!" The old turtle told them as he held up his magnifying glass.

Tessa swept around the store, her sundress flowing behind her. She inspected the things thoroughly and picked up a few things as the others talked with the tortoise.

"Anything you youngins wanna know?" He asked them curiously.

"There's a prophecy I read in one of the Snowdin books." Ivan spoke up, fixing his glasses, "I didn't learn much about it, but will you tell me about it?"

"Ah. I think I get this prophecy you're askin' about. Legend has it, an 'angel' who has seen the surface will descend from above and bring us freedom." The tortoise explained to them.

"That... could be one of us... huh..." Aiden asked thoughtfully, truly wondering the deeper meaning behind it.

 _"I bet it's me though!"_ Harmony imagined Ethan saying, trying to memorize the prophecy, "An angel who has seen the surface will bring freedom..."

Frisk had a dark expression and gave them no reply, "Let's get going." She grimaced, turning around and walking out. The others followed and Tessa slid some G to the turtle man, "I'll take these crab apples." She pointed to the few she had gathered in her hand.

"We should stop for a break." Emily suggested once they got to the next doorway, "It's been a while, and none of us have actually gotten any sleep... we need to get some before we continue on. How about we work in shifts? Aiden and I can go first."

"Alright..." Tessa sat down on the dirt, pulling her knees up to her chest. Harmony also plopped down, not sleeping, but watching Ethan and praying for him to wake up. Frisk shrugged and fell asleep in two seconds. Ivan held his notebook close to him. And so all of them except for Emily and Aiden fell asleep.

* * *

"Why'd you put me in a shift with ya, Em?" Aiden leaned against the doorway as he stared at the blonde suspiciously. He knew Emily didn't care for him as much as she did for the others, which is what lead him to be so curious.

"There's something we need to discuss..." Emily frowned, averting her eyes, "It's about Ivan." She bit her lip and tried playing around with the back of her apron.

"What about Ivan." His expression darkened in thought when he remembered how Ivan's actions were so peculiar and he didn't act as he used to.

"I saw something in his notebook, Aiden. It wasn't good. I saw... a diary entry... or journal entry or whatever... it was really old... like a few years old... but he injected himself with something. I can't tell you what it was, because that's all I have seen, but..." Her voice trailed off as she stared at his notebook. Her memory flickered.

 _"̴͖̤́I̶̢̧͑̔t̸̹̜͕͋̓̆'̶͖̼̭͒̈s̴͚͈̅͊̀ ̸̭̦̻͝n̶̮̗͓̐̈́̀o̶̜̩̊ṯ̵̠͒̐̀ ̴̬̭͇͌̈̿a̴̗̐ ̷̙̥̙̾̒b̸̭͍͎̋i̵̱͔̿̂̄ĝ̴̣͇̚ ̵̙͚͂̚͜d̶̮̦̬͌̕̚e̷̮͓͍̎̾̀a̷̖̅̐͛ḻ̵̲̞̈́̂ ̶̬̈́͘á̴̛̯͇̠n̸͖͙̼̈́d̸̙̻̒̊ ̷͈́̾̆n̴̮̮̊ȯ̵͔͙̯̽ť̵̜ ̸̨̝͖̆͑̈́y̵̨͂̽̍ọ̴͆̉͆u̶̝̻̦̒r̷̤̜̬̎ ̴͖̪͍͗́̔ḅ̷̢̿ű̵̡͕͂͝ṣ̶̥̀í̴͚͚́n̸͇̚e̴͔̼͉̔̀s̴̛̈́͜͠s̵͎͎͗̽͜,̴̱͚̆ ̵͇̠̎̌̕Ė̶͈͖͎͂̍m̵̢̑ī̷̧̛̿l̴̘̊y̶̙̩͂͂̄.̶̰̻͈̀͘"̴̪̺͉̄̚ ̴͍̜͑I̴̘̜̓͠v̷̭͚͊̓ä̸̱́͂̀n̷̡͓̅̈́̋'̷̪̆̆ś̷̗̩ ̷̯̰̮̄̉v̷̹̎̆o̸̮͋̈́i̸̺̔̏c̶̪̫̜̈́̇è̵̼̝̥ ̸̤͔̥͋e̵͇̹̙͗͗ċ̶̟̭̮̊̆h̸͔̝̋͘ơ̶͎͌̿ḙ̸̺̋́͌d̵̡̾̐ ̵̖͔̋ẗ̴̢́h̵̨̙̪̒̀͘r̷̰̖̟͑́o̸̻̪̺̎͌͝ǘ̸͕̒g̵͔͛̂͘h̴̙̞͓͌̆͘ ̵̡̿h̴̲̪͊̅̈͜ȇ̷̳͛̂r̵̭̣̓ ̸̗͓̭̆m̷̗͉̽͌̌i̵̧̗͖̿̽̑ņ̸̼̇͊͐d̵̲̺̫́̕ ̴̮̰͙̑̈͑ḁ̷̣̎̚s̶͈̄̐ ̷̙̀̕s̵̩̥͒́͜h̶̹̦̙̋è̴̼̗͊̕ ̷̻̹͝ḡ̴͎̊͗r̶̠͋͒i̴̲̇͊m̴̩̘̎͜a̶͈͎̲̅͗ç̶̘̞̓̀͠e̶̤͆͊̕d̸̰̯̀̈.̷̡̢̡̽̽_

"We need to do some digging." Aiden replied, glancing at the notebook as well. He slowly reached down from over his brother's head and snatched it, "Mission complete." He grinned like the idiot he was before Emily took it from him. [a/n: gently, may I add]

"Not quite yet. Now we have to actually read it." Emily corrected, flipping through a few pages, "Where is it... come on..." She started flipping more rapidly until her finger landed on the page, "Aha!"

"You found it!" Aiden gasped, taking half of his brother's notebook to see better. He started murmuring the words from the book before he took it completely, "That's not right..." He held it at a different angle, "No..."

"Aiden..." Emily started before he cut her off.

"This is wrong. None of this is correct. Ivan would never do any of this. This is a lie. Someone's joshing me." Aiden started shaking, his heart pounding. Ivan would never do that... he never would. It wasn't true. It couldn't be.

"I know, Aiden... but... this is Ivan." Emily gestured to the pale sleeping boy. She wanted to make him feel better, even though she didn't understand herself.

"No. You're wrong. That's not my brother." Aiden threw the notebook against the wall and slowly sank down against it in silence.

 _Where are you, Ivan?_

* * *

 **wow this was a lot, but Ethan would've added like a thousand more words lol**


	20. Undyne and the Best Boi

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN**

 **.:HARMONY:.**

"Someone touched my notebook." Ivan looked slightly agitated when he glanced at Harmony. They were on the final shift before they continued and the others had just fallen asleep. Harmony was plucking at the grass when he made this remark.

"What do you mean?" Harmony raised an eyebrow, confused at who would touch his notebook.

"First of all, there are a few new tears in my pages, and second of all, there are fingerprints." Ivan replied coldly, glaring at her immediately in suspicion. He knew any of them could easily be a suspect for touching his belongings. Except for Ethan. That boy unconscious.

"Well, it wasn't me," Harmony decided to say first, "and I highly doubt it was Ethan." She glanced over at him, knowing he hadn't awoken from consciousness. She then looked back to Ivan, "So... that leaves the other four."

"It's not a big shock who it was. It was obviously my brother and Emily. They've always been nosy." He replied flatly, cleaning the lenses of his glasses carefully, "I'll deal with them later."

Harmony twitched a little at how icy his tone was towards his own brother and friend. But instead of making a comment, she shook her head with a tiny sigh. She only had to worry if he was going to kill them, right...? She decided to just make sure nothing was coming for them...

"Let's go!" Aiden declared, hoisting Ethan up onto his back. Tessa nodded along with the others, but Ivan seemed a little too salty to reply.

That's Ivan.

* * *

Emily blissfully led the way whilst Harmony followed beside ghosty boi Chara, Frisk on the other side. Tessa was helping Aiden, taking a moment to push her pretty brown hair out of the way to get clearer sight. Chara kept complaining about needing chocolate to which Frisk would reply, "none of us have ghost chocolate, Chara."

Chara groaned but floated along as they stepped through the water.

"Lucky this doesn't go up to my tutu." Harmony muttered as she trudged through it, feeling her shoes get soaked with water and perhaps mud to follow. She grimaced, the shoes becoming more and more uncomfortable to the point where she was questioning the choice to ditch them entirely. However, she decided it would be much worse to go barefoot when there were a bunch of pebbles and stones that would make her feel miserable and maybe even worse than stepping on a lego. She knew even Ethan would complain if he stepped on the small rocks in bare feet. Then again, was that really a comparison? Ethan complained about everything.

Speaking of Ethan, the kiddo was still unconscious on Aiden's back. Aiden didn't make it visually clear that carrying a boy that was a hundred something pounds hurt him. He knew they couldn't carry him and didn't want that pressure on any of them. Ivan was what, a string bean with bad social ability? Tessa wasn't as strong as him, Emily was some chef who made pie for everyone, Frisk was too weird to trust, Chara was a ghost, and Harmony was too nervous or something. So he'd put the priority on himself to lug Ethan around, and make himself the group captain in the process.

"It's pitch black... I can't see anything..." Harmony whispered, the flowers echoing her words seconds after she said them. It severely bugged her that they echoed their words or other conversations, no matter how pretty they were to meets the eye.

A golden flower popped up nearby, but not in view of any of the eight children. He snorted as he glared at them from afar, "Seven kids... seven souls... this is way too easy. Way. Too. Easy. Vines crept near their feet, alarming Emily and Aiden in the blink of an eye. Aiden stomped on one of them, causing it to shrink back. Harmony whirled around to see them herself, nervous about Ethan's involvement with anything. But nope. He was perfectly fine...

For now.

Crushing another vine, Aiden kept the group moving along and his senses sharp, having his suspicions about who was doing such to them. Frisk already knew from prior experience that these vines were owned by none other than Flowey. What was his plan this time? The others wouldn't get in the way with her timeline, right? The vines dispersed,

"I'll get one of you soon. Mark my words..." He popped back into the ground. Harmony was even more disturbed at such. She ran right into a fight with Aaron.

She had to flex... right...? Wasn't that what Ethan did...? Flushing, she did the most pathetic excuse for a flex ever. ( **A/N: Me too, Harmony. Me. Too.)**

Aaron made some snarky comment that made Harmony's hand twitch over the FIGHT button. But she moved it away and tried again until he was gone. She couldn't fight... even if it was something she knew she was meant to be capable of, she just wasn't. The battle ended and they moved on down the path, touching the glowing mushrooms to illuminate the trail ahead of them.

Then all of a sudden-

Emily was launched into battle with a special monster- a Temmie!

Her eyes lit up and sparkled, "It's so cuteeeeeeee! I want one please!" She would've ran over and hugged it if she could.

"No time, Emily, just spare it already!" Aiden pressured hastefully, tossing his hair out of the way. The dimly lit up pathway was becoming more and more dim as the battle dragged on, causing Aiden's sight to fail. Emily was unsure what to do, but thinking about her options in the ACT selection ( **A/N: I'm not even sure how my battle simulation in this works at this point, just roll with it please)** , she decided to flex. And that brought back, you guessed it, Aaron. Temmie was then spared and even squeaked, "nOooOooOoOo!"

So Emily flexed. Again. Who knew this fanfic was just going to consist of preteens/teens flexing. But back to the story.

Continuing down the track, they found a new place that collectively shocked all the kids- Temmie Village.

"THERE'S SO MANY AND THEY'RE SO CUTE!" Emily squealed out of excitement and rushed over to all of them to greet them. Harmony decided to talk to some too, getting a lot of, "Hoi! I'm Temmie, and this is my friend Temmie!" and getting one, "Hoi! I'm Bob."

Half of them carried and played with all the Temmies while the other half (consisting of an awkward boy, a cowboy, a ghost, and an insupportable kid) just stood there with blank expressions. Even Frisk was talking to the Temmies before deciding to talk to the owner of the Tem shop and buying an excessive amount of Tem flakes. The girls seemed to just enjoy themselves with the cat-dog creatures. Ethan would've probably found it enjoyable as well if he were conscious. When they finally drew themselves away from the village, they almost blindly finished getting through the glowing path. And then they just walked. And walked. And walked. To a dead end. They knew this when Harmony smacked her face into the wall, causing the others to halt. There was a crunch of footsteps behind them. Harmony instantly was aware of who it was, " _pleasenotethanpleasenotethanpleasetellmeyou'renotafterethan_..."

She held out her spear, the darkness still clouding everyone's vision of Undyne.

"Seven. Seven human souls. Seven human souls to shatter the barrier. With the power of them, our king... ASGORE Dreemurr... will become a god and free us. He'll take back the surface from humanity and ensure the pain and suffering of them as we have endured. The pain I will make you endure. Unless you willingly give up your soul. Then I won't tear you to bloody shreds to get it." Her deal appeared to convince Harmony, but she knew none of them would've agreed with her.

"I-" Tessa began when Aiden covered her mouth with his hand. It was a "shut up" kind of glare that he gave her.

Silence. Harmony was already shivering. Her hair had fallen down into a long ponytail as she could feel the spear getting closer and closer to them.

Would she even get to say goodbye to anyone...? Not her mom, not her dad, not her brother...

 _Not even Ethan...?_

Before a few tears already building up in her eyes at the thought could spill, a familiar voice from the grass popped out in front of the spear, "Undyne! I'll help you fight!"

There was that silence again when Monster Kid looked between Undyne and the group.

"YO! You did it, guys! You got Undyne RIGHT in front of you!"

"That's not a good thing." Aiden hummed as he continued,

"Front row seats to her fight! AWESOME!" Monster Kid looked happy for them.

"Open your eyes." Ivan commented bitterly, then realizing someone's brain the size of a pea wouldn't understand that, "Look at who she's fighting." He sighed slightly before a reply came.

He looked back and forth between Undyne and the kids, "Wait! Who IS she fighting?!"

Undyne dragged him away by the face, "Hey! Ow!" His complaints faded away as he got further and further until they didn't hear anything anymore from him.

Everyone was sweating and managed to let out a sigh of relief and catch their breath. From Aiden's back, there was a small yawn and a leap down from Aiden. He stumbled and nearly fell over, but rubbed at his eyes, "What did I miss?" He inquired sleepily, as if he had rather woken up from a long nap than actually been unconscious.

Aiden rubbed his own back before he straightened, "Just a bunch of fear from all of us and pain and suffering, the usual."

"You're okay!" Harmony pushed through the others to hug him. She was feeling better knowing he was up, even though he was still not a hundred percent up and focused.

He yawned once more, patting her back, "Nice hairstyle, you must've gotten bored of the old ballet bun, huh?" He already had noticed that, but was saying it in a teasing tone. He knew just how to lighten her up a bit.

"No... it just falls down sometimes... you know?" She didn't know what to say all that much except she was glad to have him back, knowing no matter how childish he was that he would still be there to protect the others.

Now that we've got the best boi back we can continue. Back along the footway, the group heard another passing conversation from the echo flowers around. They stepped through water again, except it was shallower than last time. No one appeared to care at this point, their only mindsets on getting home. Finally at the end, Ivan read the passage in an unambiguous voice.

"However... there is a prophecy... An Angel... One Who Has Seen The Surface... They will return and the Underground will go empty." He read, close to being interrupted by a-

"I KNOW WHO THAT IS IT'S ME." Ethan bursted out as if he knew the answer to everything. Harmony respired deeply,

"Ethan... that could easily be any of us." She tried to explain to him as lightly as possible. At first, he looked like he understood. Then again, she got her hopes too high when Ethan said-

"BUT HARMONY IT'S OBVIOUSLY ME, NOBODY CAN RESIST MY CHARM!" He countered pridefully, "Being a savior of the Underground will totally boost my image."

"First of all, what charm. Second of all, the only thing that will boost is your big ego." Harmony replied unequivocally, making Ethan fall to his knees overdramatically,

"Harmony I trusted you why." Harmony rolled her eyes and pulled him up to his feet.

"Let's just go." Aiden had zero patience for either of the two. He led the way this time, gun in hand. His eyes glinted as there was a sound behind them on the bridge.

"Yo... I wanted to ask you guys something. It's... pretty awkward to ask someone this but... you guys are human, right?"

A silent nod from Emily specifically. Monster Kid let out a small laugh, "Haha. Man! I knew it! Well, now I know it... also... um... Undyne told me to stay away from you guys... so... we're enemies now I guess. I stink at that... haha..."

"I'm not good at being enemies either." Emily comforted with a timid smile, "Maybe I can help?"

"Oh yeah! Can I insult you? Pleaaaaaaaaase?" He begged excitedly, but tried to keep a strong face.

"Sure... as long as it's not too mean." Emily nodded curtly.

"Okay... um... here... I go... I... I hate your guts..."

"That was-" Emily was cut off by Monster Kid, whom was shuffling his feet for a moment.

"Man... I'm such a turd. I'm... I'm going to go home now." He turned around and began to walk off before some of the bridge's edge caved in and Monster Kid began to fall, "Help!"

Emily grabbed him by the shirt, Ivan clutched onto the back of her shirt to keep her up. No matter how sour he was with her, he still cared.

"Yo! Hold on!" He was shaking in his boots. That is... if he actually wore boots... but that's a figurative expression anyways.

"I-It's Undyne!" Harmony squealed out of fear when seeing the armored fish lady.

"HELL NO DON'T WORRY ETHAN TO THE RESCUE!" Ethan said boldly, standing in front of her with the smuggest face. Of course that only made Undyne throw a spear. Harmony pulled Ethan aside a split second before he was skewered.

"That's so uncool." Ethan clenched his fist and drilled it into Undyne's armor.

It barely even left a dent. Undyne threw a careless spear which grazed his arm, blood beginning to trickle from it. He didn't seem to care though. Emily and Ivan has finally gotten Monster Kid up.

"Guys. Get out of here. Just start running. I'll follow when I can." Ethan called to them, snapping a spear in half and using one to defend himself from her.

"But-" Tessa started when Aiden pulled her away at lightning speed.

"Good luck, Ethan..." Harmony started running along with the others who were left.

"This timeline is really weird..." Frisk thought to herself skeptically, "It'll have the same outcome anyways." She was running with her short hair bouncing behind and one green sweatered ghost.

"Just me and you, fish ladyyyyyy." Ethan stuck out his tongue as taunt number one.

"It's Undyne to you, little human." She sneered in his face in turn.

"I'm not litttttle!" He winked at her, really just confusing her, "Gotta go, bye!"

At the speed of light, the idiot was gone. Undyne chased after him, Spears darting passed his head like nobody's business. Ethan kept his mind clear, knowing he would be dead if her aim got any better. He never liked running away from others. It only showed cowardly choices. He wanted to face Undyne, but knew he was no match for her and couldn't let himself die so easily.

If he was going down, it had better been for a better reason than that, he decided.

Meanwhile, the others entered Hotland. Aiden started overheating when they walked in and Harmony just looked worried.

"Ethan... come on... where are you..."

And then, as if on cue, he bolted into Hotland. Undyne followed and began to cross the bridge. But she slowly slumped over from the heat in her armor. Emily grabbed a plastic cup and got some water. She slowly poured it onto Undyne cautiously. She got back up with no words. And walked away.

"I think-" Harmony stopped to let out a huff, "-we're good for now."

"Everyone take a breather... we'll walk around a bit and then go back on the trail." Aiden announced and tipped his hat. Everyone nodded and scattered a little. Ivan was just writing in his notebook when Aiden tapped on it to gain his attention.

"Ivan... we need to talk." He said, "Privately..." He then added.

Ivan's eyes flickered and he got to his feet, "I need to talk to you as well, Aiden."

* * *

"Harmony..." Ethan was wiping blood off of his arm when he spoke.

"Yeah, what's up?" She pulled some stray strands of hair out of her face.

"I... I feel like I'm missing something, if I'm being honest... like... I can't remember somethings. I know... you're my best friend... and the others and stuff. But... I feel like I've lost something... I don't remember my home. I don't remember my parents. I don't remember... much. Like... when you first moved here. You're there... but... you're also not..." He tried to put it into words, frustrated when he couldn't formulate the right ones, "It's like it hurts to remember anything. I... just told you because... I guess I trust you and that you'll listen to me."

"I-I'm glad you trust you- I mean me! That's good! I'm glad..." She tried smiling as she stumbled over more words, "Did telling me that make you feel less stressed?"

"Yeah, it did..." He got back to his feet slowly. He flattened his hair in fear it was sticking up and he looked like an idiot, but it was all good, "Thanks, Harmony... I'm gonna go find Aiden and Ivan now." He began to walk away, his bandanna flowing behind him.

* * *

Aiden didn't question his bitterness, but led him a little bit away,

"Ivan... I read-"

"You _snooped_." He corrected in a monotone voice, "You looked through like the overprotective brother you are. You have absolutely no respect for my privacy. None. Nada."

"Why... didn't you tell me you were suffering so badly..." Aiden's shoulders slumped ever so slightly, "We could've went through it together, Iv. We could've supported each other. Why... why-"

"You never will understand, Aiden. You will never understand. You closed yourself off. That wasn't my fault. You were out all day until 10 PM each night. After school you wouldn't even say hi to me. You're the reason I am who I am. Don't talk to me again. I would rather not be your brother than associate with you again." Ivan shoved passed him coldly, causing Aiden's expression to change to more of a downcast feeling.

"I'm sorry, Ivan... I'm sorry I wasn't being the brother you needed."

* * *

 **A/N: Well, this was a lottttt of drama. Ugh I don't like my writing but I don't like giving up.**

 **I just realized how Harmony centric this chapter was. Dannnnnng. And a lot of Aiden too. Tessa made really minor appearances ;-; that's my fault.**

 **QOTD: Do you like chicken nuggets?**


	21. IVAN NEEDS A HUG

**Hey guys. Wow, this is a late update. February was really busy for me, I had a lot to handle. Here's an update a month later haha. While writing this I remembered how much I love Ethan. Chara gets one mention in this chapter unfortunately lol. Anyways, I'm not going to ramble so enjoy the chapter please.**

* * *

 **CHAPTER SIXTEEN**

 **.:IVAN:.**

Ivan didn't feel any regret for what he said. Aiden had it coming. And while his relationship with Emily was different than what he had suffered through with his brother, he was still sour about her too.

Why couldn't they mind their own business like Ethan, Harmony, Tessa, and Frisk did? They didn't need to meddle with his life. Especially Aiden. He never cared before, so why should he suddenly accept him being worried? Then again, Ethan and Harmony rarely talked to him and Tessa was always quiet anyways. And then Frisk was always with that ghost. He could never place his finger on that. If he was dead, why was he still following them?

He was recording all of this down in his notebook when the group stopped at Undyne's door. Papyrus had knocked and was waiting patiently for Undyne to answer. Ivan just fixed his vision on the door and waited for her to step out.

"Hi Papyrus! Ready for your extra private one-on-one training?" The blue fish grinned to show all of her teeth, which were are sharp as knifes. She was wearing a casual tank top and looked a heck of a lot less intimidating.

"Of course I am! I'm the Great Papyrus!" He placed a hand on where his heart would be, his red scarf blowing in the wind, "But I even brought a few friends!" He added, stepping out of the way for her to see the kids.

Harmony gulped, "Uh oh."

Undyne's eyes were closed when she spoke, which was something along the lines of, "I don't believe we've met befo-" When her eyes fell on the humans, they narrowed almost instantly; however, she just stood there as the room got more tense. Of course, Papyrus was still wearing his famous grin as innocently as ever, expecting one of them to say something.

Emily felt the hairs on her neck bristle, "hhhhhhheeeeeeeeeyyyyy..." She dragged the word out awkwardly, plastering the best fake smile on her face that she could.

Undyne once again didn't respond, but through gritted teeth, said, "Why don't. You eight. Come in." Ivan observed the tension raising and thickening as the conversation went on, scribbling it down on his notebook.

 _Undyne:_

 _Hates children_

That was the only note he took before she leaned over his shoulder and demanded, "HEY! WHAT ARE YOU WRITING IN THERE, PUNK?!"

"Nothing of your concern." answered Ivan briskly, shuffling his feet to get a bit away from her. But she followed.

"SHOW ME WHAT YOU WROTE ABOUT ME, HUMAN!" She summoned a spear, alarming pretty much everyone- everyone except Papyrus.

Ivan wasn't alarmed, so he cleared his throat with a small smirk and read, "Undyne: hates children."

"I DON'T HATE CHILDREN! I HATE HUMAN CHILDREN!" She corrected, snapping the spear in half over her knee. Her eyes were blazing.

"My bad." Ivan then also added a line down _, Has anger management issues and thinks she's all cool. Boosts Papyrus's ego._ He shut the notebook, then glued his purple eyes to her, "Okay. I'm done with my notes."

Papyrus then tried to clear the air by tapping Undyne on the shoulder, "My friends brought a gift for you! All on their own!" He beamed at her and then presented an orange bone with a red ribbon tied around it. Undyne blinked at it, but sighed,

"Uhhhhhh... thanks. I'll go put it with the others." She refused to hurt Papyrus's feelings in anyway like that. So she took it from him politely, sliding it into a kitchen drawer.

"So, are we ready to start?"

Papyrus shook his skull, "Whoospy Doopsy! I just remembered! I have to go to the bathroom! You all have fun!" Subtly, he turned around and went head first out the window. Ethan started bursting out laughing, seeing it as comedy gold. He shouldn't have been laughing as hard as he did, but he ended up crumpling up on the floor and snickering to himself. Harmony looked embarrassed by his actions and lightly kicked him in the shoulder.

And then he started complaining about how that stuff hurt and that she was too rough and needed to cool down. But Harmony had gotten this talk so many times. So she kinda just ignored him and looked at Undyne, putting on the bravest face she could muster.

"So why are YOU seven here. To rub your victory in my face? To humiliate it even further? IS THAT IT?" There was that icy tone that gave Tessa chills again. Ivan met her gaze, his eyes frigid as he stared at her,

"It appears Papyrus wants us to bond and get this 'friend' essence so you don't try to kill us." He explained wistfully, the knowledge he had clear in that singular sentence.

Ethan, being the idiot he was, stuck out his tongue tauntingly, "Weeeeeee wonnnnnnnn! Youuuuuuu lost!" He tormented, causing Harmony to drag him away by the ear,

"Stop being an idiot and getting us into more trouble!" She mumbled, but it sounded half hearted as 99% of what Ethan did always amused her. But he didn't need to know that.

"WELL, I've got news for you then, BRATS. You're on my battlefield now. And you WON'T humiliate me here." She pushed through the kids to lift Ethan up by his shirt, "I'll tell you what's going to happen, Punk. We're going to hang out. We're going to have a good time. We're gonna be 'friends'. You'll be the one enamored in me. YOU'LL be the one humiliated by your own actions!"

"I won't enamor you because I already love someone else. Not enough love left for you." Ethan nearly replied. But instead of saying that, he decisively just said "okay."

"Fuhuhuhuhu!" She dropped him carelessly, the boy hitting the ground but pushing himself up as fast as he could. He stood a little taller and tried to look more intimidating.

But cinnamon rolls fail at that.

"It's the PERFECT revenge!" Undyne snickered with a wide grin, "why don't you guys take a seat?"

Papyrus peeked his head into her home's window, "That's the spirit!" He cheered for his friends before leaving again.

"Dibs!" Ethan called, diving for the chair. Aiden knocked him out of the way, "You're too slowwww." Aiden hummed annoyingly as Ethan huffed at the move. Tessa seemed nothing but amused.

Ivan rolled his eyes, " _Ignoramuses_ ," He thought to himself, " _It's_ _just_ _a_ _chair_." He slightly folded his arms, but refused to say anything at that action.

When would Ivan stop being like this? WHEN WE GET TO THE CLIMAX OF IVAN DRAMA I GUESS

"I can't believe Paps leaped through the window like that-" Undyne was cut off by Harmony,

"Um... I can..." She responded quietly. Tessa and Emily nodded in agreement. Aiden and Ethan were fighting. More like Ethan was trying to push Aiden out of the chair. Ivan pushed his hair out of his face,

"What Papyrus did was precisely something Papyrus would do." He informed the fish.

"But he usually NAILS the landing!" She countered, chuckling.

Tessa began walking over to the piano curiously, "I use to play the keyboard..." She whispered to no one but herself.

"Um... Alphys's... friend... came over once. All he did was lie on the piano seductively. And fed himself grapes." Undyne explained, Tessa deciding to take a step back, "Okay then." She murmured.

"I don't really like that guy. But I do admire his lifestyle." Her smile never wavered but started to annoy Ivan slightly. Emily innocently smiled back though.

Frisk and Chara were looking at some sword or whatever and Harmony was looking at the fridge, "What kinda food do you eat?" She pondered curiously, looking over at her for answers. Her eyes glistened with wonder.

To which Undyne answered, "You see, I don't really like cold food. So Alphys made me a fridge that heats up food instead. Hot Fridge... the world's greatest invention, huh?"

Harmony wondered about making a comment, but thought the best of it and kept her mouth shut. Monsters probably didn't know what microwaves were, anyways. Emily was looking inside the drawers to look at what cutlery she had,

"Do you like cooking?" She gasped, her eyes gleaming as she glanced over at her for an answer.

"Of course! I'm the one who gives Papyrus all of his lessons!" She pounded her fist into her other hand. Emily looked satisfied at her answer. Ivan inspected the door to her room, intrigued, but Undyne wouldn't let him pass. Only some nerds allowed, apparently.

So eventually they all sat down at the table. Or semi did. They just kinda all sat on their knees while Ethan was being angry about not getting the chair.

"Are you guys all comfortable?" The fish lady asked, "I'll get you something to drink."

"Good! I'm thirstyyyyyyyyy." Ethan dragged out the word just to be annoying. Undyne walked over to the fridge and took out four items, placing them on the counter.

"All set! What would you like?" When Ethan went to get up, she threw a spear at the table, causing Harmony and Tessa to squeal in unison out of alarm. Aiden looked slightly amused. And Ivan nearly jumped to his feet himself.

"HEY! DON'T GET UP!"

"YO WHAT THE HELL MAN I WANTED TO GET MY DRINK!" Ethan demanded of her, fuming. He just really wanted something to drink, okay?

"YOU'RE THE GUEST! SIT DOWN AND ENJOY YOURSELF!" She commanded, her eyes flashing. She then calmed down and straightened, "Why don't you just point to what you want. You can use the spear."

Aiden snatched it and then pointed it at Undyne, as if it was his gun.

"Are you hitting on me?!" She looked kinda confused and annoyed at the same time.

"No-" Before Aiden could reply, Ethan took it from him, "I'll handle that, Aiden." Ivan snorted and wrote down notes about Undyne instead of watching the two numbskulls fight over some dumb spear.

Ethan pointed at the soda eagerly, "I WANT THE SODA!" He told her clearly, glowing.

"You know, even though you chose the soda, you don't look too happy about it. That's okay. I think soda is gross, too!" Undyne reassured the brave boy. Ivan watched and scribbled this on the notes page he had for her.

Ethan literally exploded, "Are you deaf?! I _just_ said I wanted it!" He nearly got up to go get the soda himself, but Harmony held him down.

"It rots your teeth and rots your mind. It rots your fighting spirit!" She then added, "And you NEED your fighting spirit, right?!"

"Not as much as I need soda, but..." He passed the spear off to Harmony before sinking under the table sadly.

"I kinda want the tea..." Harmony then addressed everyone, "What do you guys want?"

"Hm... tea seems to be a reasonable choice." Ivan nodded to her when he said it aloud.

"I'll drink whatever!" Emily couldn't help but put in, fidgeting with her long sleeves. Frisk shrugged, not caring but knowing tea was going to be the only one Undyne had anyways. Tessa wanted hot chocolate as well as Aiden, but Ethan popped his head above the table just to side with Harmony. So she chose tea. Ivan was glad at that.

"you want tea, huh? Coming right up!" She walked over and grabbed the tea leaves(?), boiling them before adding sugar. She walked over to them and gave them each a boiling cup of tea one at a time.

"Careful, it's hot." She warned, sitting down at the other side of the table. Ivan decided he sort of liked Undyne, shoving aside the fact that she tried to kill them all.

Despite Undyne's warning, Ethan slurped the tea down in no time flat. And then felt his tongue on fire,

"Why did I drink it that fast?!" He whimpered to himself, fanning his tongue to try and cool it down.

"Thank you." Emily sipped it, recoiling at the heat before blowing on it and drinking it slowly. Harmony smiled slightly and patted his head before gulping her tea down. She loved that stuff. And she also was unsure how to feel about Undyne, but she sorta liked her. Strangely, anyways, "Thanks..."

Ethan just felt tortured by the fish lady. Aiden took a nice, long drink of his, shrugging at the heat. It didn't bother him all that much. Tessa sipped hers quietly, "Thank you..."

Frisk slurped hers loudly and at a mediocre speed.

"Good, right?" The kids all nodded when she asked, "Well, NOTHING but the best for my absolutely PRECIOUS friends." Undyne continued, "You know, it's kinda strange you chose THAT tea. Golden flower... that's Asgore's favorite." Ivan flipped to another page that was labeled for ASGORE, writing down this carefully.

"Well, did we have much of a choice?!" Harmony clamped a hand over Ethan's mouth, "Proceed." She nodded at her.

"Now that I think about it, you guys all kinda remind me of him... kinda remind me that you're all TOTAL WEENIES!" She snickered, grinning at them. Ethan bit back a retort.

"...sort of, anyways. Y'know like this kid-" she pointed to Ethan, "-I was a pretty hotheaded kid."

"The name's Ethan!" He grinned, pulling on his gloves tighter. Undyne processed this, "So... what are your names?" She asked the others.

"My name is Ivan." The purple soul replied, waving, "And this is Harmony, Tessa, Emily, or Em, Aiden, and Frisk." He pointed at each child in turn. He didn't think she could see Chara (which she couldn't), so he didn't bother mentioning him.

"Nice!" Aiden found Undyne pretty chill. She proceeded in telling her story, "Once, to prove I was the strongest, I tried to fight Asgore. TRIED. I couldn't land any hit on him! And even worse, he refused to even fight back! I felt so embarrassed."

"Not as embarrassed as I was when I broke my arm when falling out of a-"

"Shhh." Tessa put a finger to her lips gently.

"Then, afterwards, he said something goofy. 'Excuse me, do you want to know how to beat me?' I told him yes, and from that moment on he trained me." She explained, "One day during practice, I knocked him down. I felt bad... but... he looked... proud. He was beaming at me. I had never seen anyone so... so... _happy_ to get their butt kicked! Long story short, he continued training me. And now I'm head of the Royal Guard! So now I get to teach dorks to fight. For example, uh... Papyrus..." her voice trailed off as Ivan logged this in his notebook, his question being answered before he could even ask it,

"To be honest... I don't know if... I'll ever be able to let Papyrus into the Royal guard. Don't tell him I said that." She averted her eyes.

"We wouldn't gain anything from doing that." Tessa mused to reassure her.

"It's not that he's weak... he's actually pretty fricken tough... but... he's... innocent. And nice! Look... he was suppose to capture you! But... he became friends with you all instead! If I sent him into battle, he'd be ripped into smiling shreds! Part of why I taught him to cook, y'know? So maybe he'll learn to do something else with his life..." She looked up to realize she was rambling. Ethan was napping somehow, "oh... sorry, you're out of tea, aren't you? I'll... get you some more." She walked over to the counter, but then a thought dawned on her,

"WAIT! Papyrus was suppose to be having his cooking lesson right now. And if HE isn't here to have it." She spared a grin for the kids, who collectively gulped, "YOU'LL have it!" She sprang up and across the counter, knocking the beverages off.

"This is messy!" Tessa complained. Harmony hid behind Ethan, who had awoken at hearing the bottle of soda shatter, "OH, YAY WE'RE DOING SOMETHING!" Ivan flinched.

"NOTHING, I repeat NOTHING has brought me and Papyrus closer than cooking! Meaning if I give you HIS lesson-"

"-we'll be closer?" Emily tried to confirm, dodging the ingredients that had fallen off of the counter. Now all of them were up and awake. Ivan was keeping his notebook clean.

"Than you could ever IMAGINE!" Undyne finished for her, "Fuhuhuhu! Afraid? We're going to be BEST friends!"

"I'M NOT AFRAID, LET's DO THIS THING!" Ethan ran over and looked up at her boldly.

"Great!" She hopped down from the counter, "We start with the sauce!"

Harmony lined up next to him as vegetables fell through the ceiling, "CRUSH THESE LIKE THEY'RE YOUR SWORN ENEMIES! POUND THEM TO DUST!"

"Uh... no...?" Harmony suggested softly, but obviously Ethan overshadowed THAT answer.

"YEAH!" Ethan started pounding the tomatoes into the counter, causing the juice to splatter everywhere. Harmony got a bunch on her shirt and Aiden was dodging it tactically.

"GO LITTLE HUMAN, GO!" Undyne encouraged, "OUR HEARTS ARE UNITED AGAINST THESE HEALTHY INGREDIENTS!" Emily didn't want to smash any vegetables, and neither did most of them. Except for Ethan and Frisk. Frisk was doing it like a wimp though. She didn't seem to care.

"NOW IT'S MY TURN! NGAHHHHHHHHHH!" With a swift punch, Undyne shattered them into a bunch of sauce,

"Uh, we can scrape this all into a pot later. But for NOW!" A pot fell into existence, "...We add the noodles!"

"Homemade noodles are the best-"

"I love homemade noodles!" Emily chirped excitedly,

"-but I just buy STORE-BOUGHT ONES!"

"Aw!" Emily grinned though. Aiden was relaxed. Tessa was salty. Ivan was writing this down as a recipe in instructions he knew Emily would do later.

"They're the cheapest! NGAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" She pulled at a box and handed it to Ethan. Harmony took half and put them in carefully. BUT ETHAN SHOVED HIS HALF IN THERE QUICKLY.

"NICE?" Undyne questioned, but continued with her toothy grin, "Now it's time to stir the pasta!"

"LET'S DO THISSSSSS!" Ethan pumped a fist in the air.

"As a general rule of thumb, the more you stir... THE BETTER IT IS!" Ivan adapted his ears to all of this screaming. Tessa and Aiden blinked. Frisk was bouncing. Ethan stirred it quickly.

"HARDER!" Undyne demanded. Ethan pushed it around faster, "HARDER!" He tried harder.

"LET ME DO IT!" She sent down a spear almost like a lightning bolt, and it shattered the pot practically. Harmony squeaked when hearing the noise. Ethan looked hyped.

"FUHUHUHUHUHU! That's the stuff! Now for the final step, TURN UP THE HEAT!" She yelled at the boy, "LET THE STOVE SHOW YOUR PASSION! USE YOUR HOPES AND DREAMS LIKE A BURNING FIRE!"

"By my calculations, this is very dangerous and an unsafe idea." Ivan tried to tell them, but neither listened.

"DON'T HOLD BACK ETHAN!" Ethan cranked it up.

"HOTTER!" The flames built up.

"GO EVEN HOTTER!" It was a raging fire at this point. Ethan pushed the knob as far is it would go until the knob snapped off out of shear force.

"Uh oh..." He sweat-grinned at her.

"THAT'S TOO HOT!" Undyne screamed, the fire bulging and burning on top of the stove. Harmony held slightly onto Ethan's arm as there was a flash of light.

There was fire everywhere, the building engulfed in flames, "Man, no wonder Papyrus sucks at cooking!" Undyne turned to the children, all whom which were in shock, "What's next...? Scrapbook making? Friendship bracelets?"

"I told you it was dangerous." Ivan chided them, folding his arms. He wagged a finger disapprovingly.

"Oh, what am I kidding... I really screwed this up, didn't I? I can't force you to like me, guys. Some people don't get along with each other. I understand if you feel that way about me-"

"Are YOU kidding? You're amazing! Sure, at first, I didn't like you because you tried to kill my friends, but... YOU'RE AWESOME!" Ethan admitted, but gave her a double thumbs up.

"That was scary, but I thought it was fun!" Harmony managed to smile.

"I wanted to serve justice against you, but... so do you, so we're on the same page." Aiden tipped his hat to her.

"One of the toughest people I've ever encountered." Ivan stated matter-of-factly, but it sounded like a compliment.

"You're great!" Emily reassured kindly, a bit of soot in her hair though she didn't mind it.

"...um, I think you're neat too..." Tessa beamed at her.

Frisk gave her a happy head nod.

"Wow... that... makes this really hard." All seven souls were launched into battle, "I'll destroy you without regret!" She held a spear in her grasp tightly, "I've been defeated, my house is in shambles, I even failed to befriend you children. That's it. It doesn't matter if you're my houseguest anymore. One final rematch! All out on both sides! IT'S THE ONLY WAY TO REGAIN MY LOST PRIDE! NOW HIT ME WITH ALL YOU'VE GOT! NGAHHHHHHHHHH!"

Undyne was letting them make the first attack. Frisk opened the menu, the others gathered around her. Ivan understood. But she closed it once they all saw her plan, and she just kicked her. She lost one HP.

"What...? That's the best force you can manage? Even attacking at full force? You can't muster any intent to hurt me... you know what...?" The spear vanished just as mysteriously as it appeared, "I don't actually want to hurt you either." Her hair blew in the wind. "At first, I hated your stupid saccharine shtick, but... the way you hit me right now... it... reminded me of someone I use to train with."

"Asgore..." Tessa murmured in understanding, "It was Asgore..."

"Now I'm certain you aren't just some wimpy losers..." She looked up, grinning, "You're all wimpy losers with BIG HEARTS! Just like him..." She daydreamed slightly before closing her eyes, "Listen, humans... it's already fated that you and Asgore are meant to fight... but... I know him... and... he probably doesn't want to hurt you either. Talk to him. Maybe he'll let you go home... eventually, some mean humans will fall down here... and I'll take all their souls in place of yours... makes sense, right? Fuhuhuhu. Oh. And if you DO hurt Asgore... I'll find a way to beat the hell out of all of you, which is what friends are for, right? Fuhuhuhu! Now let's get the hell out of this burning house!" The battle ended. Everyone agreed and rushed out. Ivan was rubbing soot off of his notebook, nit-picky about it.

* * *

"We'll have to hang out again another time! But... uh, somewhere else, I suppose. In the meantime, I'll go hang out with Papyrus. So if you need me, drop by Snowdin, Okay?!" She gave Ethan a noogie and then high fives the other kids.

"If you ever need help, give Papyrus a ring. I'll be in the same spot, so I can help too! Well, see you later, punks!" She walked away, leaving the seven kids in silence. Ivan's eyes glowed purple very faintly. He wrote this down,

"Let's go on now, shall we?"

* * *

 **Yay! Longest Chapter ever~~~!**

 **Okay I promise Ivan will be less salty next chapter**

 **QOTD: Have you ever broken a bone?**


	22. What A Game Show

**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN**

 **.:EMILY:.**

Once the kids had finally left Waterfall and to Hotland again, it was certain all of them wished they didn't. All of them were somewhat sweating, but luckily they didn't have to walk further.

Ahead was a building named the lab, and to the left there were two guards and another path. Emily looked at the worn down lab skeptically. It looked like it had been there for ages and she worried it was abandoned. It had the word lab in all caps and the color of the letters was red.

"Sorry, Undyne, like, told us there was some humans around here so we have to, like, block the elevators." One of the two guards was explaining to Ethan. Ethan huffed while the others understood and decided they would go to the lab for help, or just as a different way through. Cautiously, Harmony raised a hand to the door and knocked on it gently.

"No one's gonna hear that lame knock!" Ethan pushed her aside and knocked repeatedly and aggressively.

Aiden stopped his fist at the tenth knock, "Ethan. Maybe we should try the doorknob instead of striking the door aggressively." His voice was pretty serious. Frisk twisted it and pushed on the door and _voila_! It opened! Ethan shrugged and Harmony pulled him out of the way, going in first. He looked offended, chasing after.

Emily followed, slowly remembering what she had read in Ivan's notebook.

* * *

Day 1

It's a few months after my sister's funeral. I'm tired of feeling pain. I think I feel the most pain. Nothing is helping. Either way, I made a serum to get rid of that pain.

Today, I injected myself with the concoction I created. Hopefully it does it's job.

* * *

She was slightly shaking as she followed Ivan into the lab. It was immensely dark, so Emily assumed the walls were green and the floor tiles were blue, but it was difficult to see closely enough. It was just light enough to see that Ivan was in front of her and that Ethan was in front of him. Eventually Harmony stopped, bringing everyone to a halt. Ivan walked over to a large projection of them and stared at it, "Hm... it appears we are being spied on."

Tessa was walking beside Frisk. Frisk kept walking, tapping her foot as the elevator door opened up. Tessa stiffened, but didn't have much time to react as Ethan stood in front of her to get a better look. A yellow dinosaur stepped out. She was wearing a white lab coat and had round, black glasses. She looked at ease for the most part until she saw Ethan, who remarked, "Heyo! I'm Ethan!"

"Oh. My. Gosh." She put both hands against the sides of her head, freaking out in front of all of them, "I-I didn't think you'd all get here so s-soon! I haven't showered, I'm barely dressed, it's all messy, and..." She stopped ranting and began to recollect herself gradually,

"H-h-hiya! I'm Dr. Alphys, Asgore's royal scientist! B-b-but I'm not one of the 'b-bad guys'! Actually, when you all stepped out of the RUINS, I've been 'observing' your journey through my console. Your fights... your friendships... everything! I was going to stop you, but... watching someone on a screen REALLY makes you root for them."

"So basically you've been stalking all of us." Aiden eyed her suspiciously, not so much happy with the dinosaur so far. Tessa seemed to be happy, so he decided to let her continue.

* * *

Day 2

Slowly, I'm losing the pain over my sister's death. Exactly what I was going for. This is amazing!

* * *

Alphys blushed, shifting nervously. She didn't think of it that way, "W-Well... uh... now I want to help you..." She explained to them, "Using my k-k-knowledge, I can guide you through Hotland easily!"

Emily smiled at the dinosaur. She was quite fond of her already, "You'd really be willing to help us?" She beamed at her.

"Do you know a way to free us from the Underground...?" Tessa asked quietly, twirling her brown hair around her finger.

"Y-Yeah, I know a way to Asgore's castle, no problem!" She reassured, fiddling with her thumbs. Frisk just watched the whole ordeal, hands in her pockets.

"Great, lead the way, get us to the surface, boom, home!" Ethan declared, his bandanna blowing in the wind. However wind could get into a lab...

"There is... one problem..." She then added, correcting him. She fixed her glasses, causing Ivan to do the same. Sometimes, he felt that there was too much gunk on the lenses of his glasses, so he got worried about it.

"There's MORE?!" Ethan cried. Harmony patted his shoulder, facepalming.

"A-A long time ago, I built a robot named Mettaton. Originally, I built him to be an entertainment robot. Uh, you know, like a... robot tv star or something. Anyways, recently, I decided to make him more useful. Y-You know... some... small, practical adjustments. Like... u-um... anti-human combat features...? Of course, when I saw you coming, I decided that I needed to remove those features! Unfortunately... I made a tiny mistake when trying to do so... and now he's an unstoppable human killing machine with a thirst for your blood? Eheheheh..." She sweatbeaded when mentioning it. Ethan stepped closer, his shoes squeaking against the floor,

"You made a robot. That puts my best friends in danger." He began to clarify, folding his arms tightly.

"Y-Yes... s-sorry... but... hopefully we won't run into him." She replied nervously, Ethan shaking his head uncertainly.

Emily blinked, saying nothing, but hearing a crash startled her. Harmony bounced up at the sound. Aiden flipped his gun around his finger. Tessa looked terrified. Frisk looked Frisk. Chara rolled his eyes. Ethan sighed.

* * *

Day 3

The pain is almost completely gone. My suffering is almost at an end. Finally. _Finally_.

* * *

"Y-You heard it too?" Alphys questioned when in rumbled the floor a second time.

"W-WHAT IS THAT THING!" Harmony asked, screaming at the top of her lungs. It got progressively faster until-

"OHHHHHHH YESSSSS! WELCOME BEAUTIES..."

Emily swallowed as a spotlight shined on Mettaton, "TO TODAY'S QUIZ SHOW!"

He turned to face the audience, "My oh my, I can already tell it's going to be a marvelous show! Everyone give a big hand for our wonderful contestants!"

He clapped for the children, confusing all of them- except Frisk.

Day 4

The pain is entirely gone! I can live a normal life now. This is great :D

"Never played before, darlings? No problem! It's simple! There's only one rule!"

"Have fun?" Emily guessed, her eyes sparking with hope as she cracked a fake smile. Even she knew that wasn't it.

"ANSWER CORRECTLY... OR YOU DIE!"

"NO I'M NOT GONNA DIE CREEPY ROBOT!" Ethan folded his arms with a sneer.

"Then you better answer correctly!" A battle initiated between him and all of the souls. He was holding a microphone.

"Mettaton attacks you." Chara narrated for them, his eyes glowing. Mettaton was a boxy robot on one wheel, waving to the audience. Harmony clicked the check button to see his stats.

"Mettaton- 10 attack. 999 defense. His metal body-" He was cut off by Ethan's yelling.

"HARMONY WHY ARE YOU WASTING TIME CHECKING STATS, WE NEED TO ATTACK!" Ethan attempted to click the FIGHT button. It disappeared and Mettaton wagged his finger disapprovingly at him, "Not so fast, darling. It's my turn now. Don't worry, I'll start with an easy one."

"What's the prize for answering correctly?" He asked them first, "A, Money, B, Mercy, C, New Car, or D, More questions."

"C OBVIOUSLY!" Ethan yelled, but Emily clicked D. Alphys created the answer with her hands, and nodded when Emily had clicked the correct one.

"CORRECT! Sounds like you get it." The robot began flipping to the next card.

* * *

Day 5

Something is happening. I can't tell what.

* * *

"The Quiz Show Continues." Chara announced, floating above Frisk, who watched herself, not wanting to intervene unless they really needed it. Tessa liked Frisk, but thought she was pretty mysterious.

"What's the King's full name?" Mettaton read to them, "A, Lord Fluffybuns, B, Fuzzy Pushover, C, Asgore Dreemurr, D, Dr. Friendship."

"C." Aiden muttered, pressing on the button. Alphys gave him a thumbs up of approval. Aiden gave one back.

"TERRIFIC ANSWER!" Mettaton approved.

"Enough about you! Let's talk about ME!" Mettaton cleared his throat (A/N: not possible for a robot but), "What are robots made of? A, Hopes and Dreams, B, Metal and Magic, C, Snips and Snails, or D, Sugar and Spice!" Tessa looked at Alphys for guidance before clicking on letter B.

"Too easy for you, huh?" The robot waved to the audience again as Ivan clicked Spare. Really, Ivan wanted to press FIGHT, as he was beginning to get pissed.

* * *

Day 6

Aiden broke his arm today when he landed badly from falling out of a tree. I don't feel any pain. Maybe it's just the serum... being... more... _effective_.

* * *

The next question was beginning to be read and before Mettaton finished, Ivan told them, "It's approximately 32.0580172627810 minutes."

Everyone blinked at him. Ivan shrugged and whispered, "Alphys said it was D. I just gave an accurate calculation."

"Don't 'count' on your victory." The next question, and a jar of flies appeared.

Tessa shrieked when seeing it, "BUGS!" Aiden flinched, "just bugs... flies, to be specific..."

"How many flies are in this jar?"

Alphys made a small A with her hands, so that's what Ethan clicked.

"Let's play a memory game!" Half of a Froggit's face appeared, and all of them immediately perked up.

"It's a Froggit. Obviously." Ethan addressed them, proud of himself.

"I'm not so sure about that." Aiden looked suspiciously at the answer. He tipped his hat slightly. Tessa thought it was a trick question.

Emily looked to Alphys for the answer, and then clicked on it. The answer was Mettaton.

"I'm flattered you all remembered." Mettaton placed a hand where his heart would be. Aiden rolled his eyes at this.

* * *

Day 7

Aiden came home today. He has a cast now, but he's in better condition. Why am I not happy he's alright?

* * *

"Wow... she really knows these answers..." Harmony remarked, mainly to herself, adjusting her bun. Ethan was getting bored of the show. He was beginning to whine about the length.

"How many letters are in the name Mettatonnnnnnnnnnnnnnn." He kept dragging out the n and the answer's letter started rising. Alphys made a "C" with her hands. It was correct, of course.

"Fabulous! How about this one. In the dating simulation video game, 'Mew Mew Kissy Cutie' What is Mew's favorite food?"

"OH! OH! I KNOW THIS ONE! IT'S SNAIL ICE CREAM! IN THE FOURTH CHAPTER EVERYONE GOES TO THE BEACH! AND MEW MEW GETS EVERYONE ICE CREAM! BUT IT'S SNAIL FLAVORED AND SHE'S THE ONLY ONE WHO WANTS IT! IT'S ONE OF MY FAVORITE PARTS OF THE GAME BECAUSE IT'S ACTUALLY A VERY positive message about friendship..." Her voice trailed off and she slowly quieted down.

"Alphys, Alphys, Alphys. You aren't helping our contestant, are you?" Alphys began shaking her head back and forth anxiously.

* * *

Day 8

I look back in my scrapbook. As I look, I feel nothing... no emotions or anything...

Strange... that scrapbook always at least makes me shed a tear... because Erin's in it...

* * *

"Ooh! You should have told me! I'll give you a question you'll all be sure to know the answer to!" He turned to the children, flipping to the final card.

"Who does Dr. Alphys have a crush on. A-"

Before he could finish speaking, Ethan slammed his face into the A button.

"I TOLD YOU IT WAS OBVIOUS, ALPHYS!" Mettaton started rambling on and on about how Alphys had a crush on Undyne and that she wrote her down in the margins of her notebook, wrote fanfiction about them together, and that they had a 1% margin of error. Alphys turned crimson red and looked embarrassed.

"Well, well, Well, with Dr. Alphys helping you, there is no dramatic tension! We can't go on like this!" If robots could frown, Mettaton would. But it would've been turned back into a smile.

"But. BUT! This was just the pilot episode! Next up! More drama! More romance! More bloodshed! Until next time, darlings~" he blasted off into the sky, causing Frisk to snicker. Tessa blinked. Aiden blinked. Emily grinned, "Wow! I can't wait for next episode!" She told them in a bubbly tone. She smiled to herself and Ivan just shrugged, "I thought it was okay."

* * *

Day 9

Emily came over today, to see both me and Aiden. Usually, I have a hard time talking to her. Today, it was so easy...

* * *

"Well, that was certainly something." Alphys commented, trying to make conversation.

"We should get going. Maybe this time we can just throw Ethan over the guards-" Aiden started as they began to walk away. Tessa shook her head at him.

"Wait! Wait! L-Let me give you my phone number! T-Then, maybe if you need help, I c-could..." she saw the phone in his pocket, "Where did you get that phone. It's ANCIENT! It doesn't even have texting! W-Wait a second, please!" She took it and walked away. Emily and Ivan decided to follow her.

She was doing some super cool upgrading stuff. The author didn't know what to put so she just said that. Ivan watched intently. Emily was intrigued.

Alphys turned to both of them, "I-I saw you guys only share one phone... d-do you want more of them?"

"That would be ideal." Ivan replied matter-of-factly, "I do not think I introduced myself. My name is Ivan."

"I'm Emily! And... if you don't mind giving us more phones that would be great... only if you can..." She didn't want to sound greedy or demanding.

"O-Of course! I-I can show you both how I upgrade them too! I can give them texting, items, and sign you guys up to social media!" She told them, raising a finger.

"I've never had social media before!" Emily perked up joyously, playing with her hair, "My mom never let me have it because it would pollute minds, but I kinda was okay with that because I loved cooking and did that when I wasn't at school, and oh my gosh now I'm rambling I'm sorry it's a habit."

"I-It's okay!" After some more tweaking, the phones were finished. Ivan has written everything down in his notebook, obviously. He liked Alphys. She was nerdy and pretty cool, he thought.

* * *

Day 10

I look further. No answers.

* * *

"...and I signed you up to Underground's Number One social network!" Alphys completed explaining. Emily nodded and hummed excitedly. Ethan ran over, "Are they done?"

"Yeah!" Emily cheered, handing him one of the phones. It had an orange and black case, reminding him of his old phone.

"YAYYYYYY! It isn't my iPhone X, but-" He cut himself off. He blinked in realization, "MY IPHONE X IS IN MY POCKET!" He pulled it out eagerly.

Unfortunately, it was completely crushed by the fall. Ethan looked disappointed.

"NOOOOOOOOO, MY IPHONE X! I SPENT REAL MONEY ON THAT!" Ethan cried, letting it fall out of his hands. Harmony sighed, "That was your fifth iPhone X, Ethan. Money means nothing to your family. Besides, you didn't buy _ANY_ of them. Your mom did."

"I-I won't break the new one Alphys gave me, promise!" He tried to reassure in hopes for her to leave him alone.

She shook her head, folding her arms. She started to check the social network, intrigued.

"I-I've got to... Uh... go to the bathroom!" She sped away from them nervously. They explored around the lab for a bit before exiting out the other side. The things in his notebook wracked at Emily's brain further. She tried to shove it away, but...

Emily stopped dead in her tracks, remembering the entry, "...Ivan... why didn't you tell us..."

"Tell you what." He stopped, not turning around.

* * *

Day 11

I feel nothing.

* * *

"Tell us that... you can't feel anything." Her shoulders slumped.

Ivan turned around, the others doing the same. There was a mix of emotions across everyone's faces except for his, but overall it was... confusion.

"Well..."

* * *

I'm going to end the chapter here. I'm evil.

Anyways, this was my plan the whole time. I knew I needed some character development at some point, and it was a chapter or so in when I decided it would be best if Ivan wasn't... the most normal? I mean yeah they're all weird, but I thought it would be interesting if he didn't act like the others and I didn't really know what to do for plot... but I did want him to have somewhat of a backstory besides, "oh he has a brother and they fell down because they had interest in research"

Mmmmmm sorry Ivan's entries are weirdly spaced out :/

Yeah this took long because I'm lazy, sorry. I'm going to be re-editing old chapters probably... making them past tense and stuff. Thanks for reading. LATER DUDESSSSSS~~~

QOTD: Which character(s) would you like to see me focus on next chapter?


	23. One of the children nearly dies

**CHAPTER EIGHTEEN**

 **.:AIDEN:.**

"Wait, let me get this straight, he can't feel anything?" Ethan raised an eyebrow, confused. He was staring down Ivan, not believing it.

"Correct." Ivan answered simply and in a monotone voice. Ethan punched him in the arm. Hard.

"Ethan!" Harmony scolded, frowning. The lava below was fizzling below.

"What? He said he couldn't feel _anything_!" Ethan countered defensively, putting his hands up, "I was just doing what _any_ reasonable person would do."

"Ignoramus!" Ivan hissed, pinching the bridge of his nose, "I don't have any emotional feeling, twit!" His eyes flickered to a light gray.

"Just because I misunderstand the context of something doesn't mean you can call me a twit, Ivan." Ethan's eyes were daggers, but if it weren't for Aiden pulling him out of the way, he would've tackled Ivan.

Harmony gasped when his eyes changed color, "I-Ivan! Your eyes!" The pale boy stepped back with his arms folded.

"I'm fine. It happens everyday. Which you all could've noticed had you ever paid any attention to me." His voice was frigid. His brother put a hand on his shoulder and forced him to meet his gaze.

"Erin wouldn't want this." Was all he managed to choke out, but he thought it would get through to his brother.

But it didn't. "Who cares what she would want, she's dead. Gone. Not coming back." Ivan seethed, Aiden's expression hardening,

"How do you think I feel, Ivan? Huh? You think I'm happy our sister is dead? Happy I'm failing my job as your older brother? Happy about the fact I'm forced to watch my little brother fall apart at the seams and I can't do anything about it?" Aiden's tone had converted from the usual playfulness to the serious, stern big brother. It wasn't a joke anymore. Now he was a little pissed.

"...none of you had time to notice I was grieving. Harmony, Ethan, And Frisk get a free pass because we hadn't met them yet, but you three have no excuse other than the fact that you're living your perfect lives without me-" he was cut off by Ethan's argument.

"Stop playing the 'I'm sad and self deprecating' card, Ivan. I understand you felt a pain that I could never feel myself, but you're trying to blame the selfish actions you made on your friends. We want to help you. Not be put down every five seconds because you want to be a baby." Ethan's demanding tone took everyone off guard. He was glaring at the boy for his decisions.

"I don't need you." Ivan responded, his voice clear and full of nothingness. He shoved Ethan, "I don't need any of you." Ethan looked a little taken aback, ready to give him a punch in the face, but Harmony stepped up to plate instead. As soon as she was about to make her own speech, Emily stepped in.

"Ivan-" Emily began protesting, but he cut her off, whirling around on her. She stumbled back, a little surprised at the sudden jerk.

"Don't 'Ivan' me, Emily. We've been friends since we were children and yet you still fail to notice I'm not that Ivan anymore. I'm not your best friend. You don't even know me! The only reason I've still hung out with you is for your sake! You were the one who insisted on following me this whole time, you're the one who bugs me when I want to be alone, you're the one who is blinded by 'friendship'."

Emily's eyes widened, gripping tightly onto her frying pan, "it... it's not real? Our friendship was just a game to you? You thought I was bothering you but just acted like we were best friends for my sake?"

Ivan was silent, just standing there.

"...you don't even care, do you?" Her eyes filled with tears. She lifted the frying pan and swiftly hit him across the face with it, "I hope you got what you wanted, Tringali. And I hope you'll be the first one to fall to Asgore." Her veins were popping out of her skin. Her eyes were red and puffy, and her voice was trembling.

Ivan laughed. Slowly. Dryly.

Crack.

The group, in unison, looked down at Ivan's soul when it appeared.

It was faded, gray, and had a huge crack in it. Right in the center.

"It's been three years guys. Slowly, my soul has been chipped at for three years. I'll be gone before we even reach Asgore. Sooner. Could be a day. Could be an hour. Could be minutes. Seconds. You just don't know. I'm going to die, to put things in short."

Tessa shook her head, the first to say anything, "I refuse to let that happen." She said timidly, "You're not going to die, Ivan." Emily didn't say anything to him, nor did she really want to. Aiden choked up, blinking at Tessa in admiration for saying what he was so desperate to say himself, yet he was at a loss for words. Frisk wanted to speak, but didn't know how to describe what she wanted to.

"I wish I could say I believe you, Tessa," He chose to keep his voice blunt, "but there's nothing to be done with me now."

Harmony finally decided it was her turn to add her own opinion to the conversation, "Then why didn't you say anything." Harmony clenched a fist as Aiden comforted Emily as best as he could, "You're trying to say it's our fault because we never noticed you were like this; but if you think about it, all of this is on you, Ivan. You could've told us. We could've helped you. We still can help you. But you have to stay true to us and stay true to yourself." Her voice was chilly, making it clear she wasn't messing around.

Ivan fixed his gaze on her, cleared his throat, and said in what seemed to be a desperate attempt to get help, "I need help." Which proceeded in a bad cough.

"What was in this serum, exactly?" Aiden questioned, wondering if it could be an solution to the problem. He was panicked at this point, not so much sad.

"Well..." Ivan began to explain how it was a general mix of a plethora of chemicals and that he wasn't sure how to fix it. Ethan stared him down and at his soul. He pondered if it could be healed. He wondered if the crack would last forever.

Ivan was uncertain of an antidote, but flipped towards the beginning of his notebook. Surely, he had documented a reversal potion, or a way to change back, right? He coughed, but looked on the back of his ingredients page, which simply said,

"There's no going back now, Ivan."

Ivan slowly closed the notebook, "It seems inevitable... there is no cure." He coughed, appearing weaker. Blood stained his sweater's arm. He was coughing up blood.

And Aiden knew. And Immediately he couldn't deny it himself.

Aiden didn't know what to say, but he forced his little brother into a suffocating hug. He wasn't sure how to react, but he could feel his face damp with tears, "I can't lose you too, Iv. Please... please..."

Ivan slowly hugged him back, his eyes a little shimmery. His soul cracked again, causing him to wince out of pain, throwing most of the pain on his chest, "I-I can't control it, Aiden... I...I'm so sorry... for everything..." A piece of Ivan's face began glitching.

Emily only wept further, covering her eyes in dismay, "I should've noticed, I should've noticed, I should have noticed..." she murmured to herself, her tears evaporating as soon as they fell from her face. Tessa hugged her, sniffling.

Harmony started bawling, seeming unnerved. This was all her fault. She should've told the others she knew what was happening to his soul. She should've told them it was far away and it was fading. She knew. Yet... she never told them. What kind of a person was she? A terrible one, obviously, she thought to herself.

She felt sick. Extremely sick. Like she had eaten something that didn't settle well with her stomach. Like that sun-dried tomato she ate at her cousin's wedding that made her vomit. Ethan pulled her into a hug, not saying a word. Frisk was destroyed at knowing one of her friends was dying, but...

She had watched someone died in every timeline. She was use to feeling upset, and she had been unable to really cry anymore. Chara... didn't say anything. He had been to so many timelines with Frisk that he had seen death more than you could count.

To him, it was just another life taken.

"You're always gonna be my baby brother... you know that, right Ivan?" Aiden's voice was shaking, but in his eyes you could tell he was determined now.

"And you'll always be my big brother..." Ivan whispered, the effect of the serum slowly flooding out of him after so many years. He shut his eyes, which were flickering purple once more, scared of what was happening, but didn't comment on the pain it was causing.

"I love you, Aiden." He whispered, his voice soft.

"I love you too, Ivan." And the purple soul stopped. It looked like it was about to shatter. Frisk stared at it, as a flash of light ripped through the outside of the lab. Frisk opened her eyes, blinking until her vision focused on Ivan. He was standing tall, his eyes wide. His soul was completely normal. It was exactly how it needed to be. Ivan grinned, not adjusting to the amount of emotion he had quite yet, "It seems the old Ivan is back."

"Ivan!" Emily squeezed him in a hug. Ivan embraced her in return, slightly smiling at her, "You scared me to death, you know!" She scolded jokingly, laughing. He finally felt... how he did when he was younger... that feeling of eating a hundred chocolate ice creams...

"I just nearly caused my own death," Ivan thought to himself outloud, "I am never messing around with chemicals like that again." He swore to himself, chuckling. He jotted it down in his brain

Aiden full on smiled. This was the Ivan he knew. This was the brother he remembered. This was the brother he needed.

"I know that in my... previous state... I told you all things that were... not one hundred percent factual. I promise that whatever I said to you I didn't mean. None of you are terrible friends; and none of this is your fault. It's mine for thinking I needed to remove the pain when I should've just gotten through it with your help. I apologize, Aiden." He fixed his glasses, his eyes begging for forgiveness.

Aiden just hugged him, "I've never been mad at you for any of this, Ivan. But consider your apology accepted." It was true; Ivan never made his brother hate him, he just felt like a terrible brother for what was said.

Harmony wasn't sure what to say, seeing as the monotone Ivan was the only Ivan she had ever known. But she gave a thumbs up.

"Nice to have you back, Ivan." Ethan gave the boy a noogie. He was a huge fan of the regular Ivan over the depressed and emotionless one. Tessa approved, giving an awkward hug, and Frisk just gave a fist bump.

"It's great to be back." He simply replied, flipping to a new page of his notebook,

" _The cure of the 'pain serum': A sibling bond."_

* * *

 **Okay… this was… roughly 2K words? It's probably my second shortest chapter, but I didn't think it would make sense to continue the storyline in this chapter. So you just got to read a whole chapter about Ivan nearly dying… which isn't that interesting whatsoever.**

 **Both Harmony and Ethan acted a little OOC at their own points, and Harmony's emotions seemed a little… all over the place? Sorry, she's just kinda weird in this chapter.**

 **Yes the sibling bond is cheesy but it works**

 **If you paid attention, Ivan's old crush on Emily was hinted at. We'll see if he ends up liking her again ;)**

 **Overall, I'm not very happy with this chapter, but… it suffices, and it was really tough to try and think of what Ivan was going to say. Sorry for the cruddiness that is this chapter, hopefully the next one is smoother and more enjoyable :/**

- **Yours Truly, Ninja**

P.S. Thanks for the continueous support :3


	24. What a Show

**CHAPTER NINETEEN**

 **.:ETHAN:.**

After letting Ivan rest for a bit, the kids were back on their adventure. Ethan bounded ahead of the rest of them, leading the way.

Ivan was in some conversation with Aiden and Emily, while Harmony and Tessa were talking to Frisk. Ethan liked Frisk; she absolutely confused him, almost all the time, in fact, but he thought she was cool. He couldn't, however, say the same for the heat in Hotland. He was probably the soul most prepared to deal with unbearable heat; He was wearing a short sleeved top and shorts, which was definitely more prepared than the rest of the kids.

His and the rest of the group's phones simultaneously buzzed as they were walking.

* * *

ALPHYS: just realized i didn't watch undyne fight the human v . v

well, i know she's unbeatable I'll ask her abt it later :3

h0tman225: lol, i totally beat her, guess she's not so unbeatable anymore

justasimplebutterfly522: don't say that, that's rude 0.0

your-local-cutie: why are we texting this we're walking next to each other

ALPHYS: ?

* * *

Ethan approached the conveyor belts gleefully, "aw, just like those ones you get to ride at the airport!" He pumped a fist in the air.

Harmony laughed a little dryly, "Yeah... the airport..." Her voice trailed off a little bit. Ethan hopped on one of them.

"Hey! I wanted to go first." Aiden jumped on after him, narrowing his eyes in competition.

ALPHYS: for now I gotta call the human up to help guide them =0 - 0=

whyamihere3: you dont have to do that. i think were good for now

AManOfScience1123: Your punctuation and capitalization is absolutely atrocious, Tessa.

whyamihere3: no one cares Ivan XP

AManOfScience1123: T_T

* * *

Tessa's soul flickered before being launched into battle with a Vulkin.

"It's a mini volcano!" Emily swooned, finding it adorable, "Tess, you gotta give it a hug!" She coaxed, watching her to see what she'd do.

Tessa hugged the Vulkin. It was warm... a little too warm. She flinched, her defense dropping.

"So lovey..." Vulkin sent a half hearted attack, satisfied with the hug she had been given. Tessa spared her, clutching her chest a little from the burn.

* * *

ALPHYS: gonna call them in a minute v . v

Pinkbubblegum2000: but... you still haven't... it's been a few minutes...

hotterthanchara: why even be concerned? Isn't it more entertaining to watch Ethan fight a Tsunderplane?

justasimplebutterfly522: of course it is!

hotterthanchara: where the heck did you come from harmony?

justasimplebutterfly522: /0 . 0/ I mean my phone is buzzing constantly so I thought I would reply to the convo

hotterthanchara: Yeah, sure that's the only reason ;)

* * *

"E-eh? A human?" Tsunderplane looked conflicted and confused as he sent an attack. Ethan went for the green around the white planes sent at him, agilely dodging anything but the green bit around them. Tsunderplane gave a condescending barrel roll as Ethan clicked spare.

"You look like a ballerina." Aiden snickered, covering his mouth.

"HEY! What's wrong with that?!" I'll have you know my best friend is a ballerina, wise guy!" He punched him on the arm. He was mean when it came to that kind of stuff.

"Chill out, Romeo." Aiden sighed, shaking his head.

ALPHYS: I HATE USING THE PHONE I DON'T WANT TO DO THIS LMAO .

whyamihere3: we arent going to bite you

your-local-cutie: nah, I totally agree with Alphys. Using a phone to communicate with people near you SUCKS

whyamihere3: but she's not near us

your-local-cutie: but you guys are near me and that's relevant

* * *

Ivan inspected the steam launch pads, intrigued, "Interesting choice of design..." He murmured, taking down notes in his notebook. That was still a thing Ivan did, emotions or not.

"Well, What are we waiting for!" Ethan grinned, stepping onto one. It (safely) threw him across to the next piece of land. He messed with his hair a bit before calling, "Alright, Who's next."

"I suppose I could go." Ivan stepped on one, the same reaction on the launchpad as before. One by one, all of them started to go across.

"Are you sure this is the only way?" Tessa questioned indecisively, "Maybe I can-"

"TESS GO ACROSS ALREADY!" Aiden intervened. Tessa did hesitantly, but didn't feel great about it.

* * *

ALPHYS: omg ive had my claw over the last digit for 5 minutes. omg i'm gonna do it. i'm just gonna call!

Pinkbubblegum2000: you can do it!

AManOfScience1123: It shouldn't be this hard to contact seven kids...

Pinkbubblegum2000: Ivan! Don't be so rude!

AManOfScience1123: Okay, Okay! I didn't think it could be this hard to contact seven kids.

Pinkbubblegum2000: that's not any better!

AManOfScience1123: Well, you didn't specify how to word it.

Pinkbubblegum2000: i didn't think i'd have to question your intelligence but maybe i should've.

AManOfScience1123: Well, that's a little rude.

* * *

Frisk's phone rang, but when she answered, they hung up, as she suspected. As they continued on, they stopped at the orange laser ahead. Frisk's phone rang once more.

"U-uh... h-hi! So... the blue lasers- UH! I mean! Alphys here! H-hi... the blue lasers won't hurt you if you don't move. Orange ones... you have to be moving, and they won't... Uh... just move through those ones! Um... bye!" There was a click as the call ended. Frisk shook her head with a sigh. Emily clapped, proud of Alphys.

* * *

ALPHYS: OMG I did it! claws haven't shook like that since Undyne called to ask about the weather... .

Pinkbubblegum2000: I'm proud of you for getting through it :D

AManOfScience1123: What does ":D" mean?

Pinkbubblegum200: It's a sideways smiley face, Ivan.

AManOfScience1123: Intriguing... very interesting.

* * *

As the group walked, Ethan heard a buzz and check at the new status Alphys updated, which read, "WAIT THERE'S NO WEATHER DOWN HERE WHY DID SHE CALL ME"

He didn't bother answering, a little tied up with the lasers. Ethan listened to the instructions Alphys had given them, which was a first, and made it to the end with no damage done.

* * *

ALPHYS: Oh My Gosh I forgot To Tell Them Where To Go

justasimplebutterfly522: we aren't lost... yet. Calm down a little, Alphys.

ALPHYS posted a picture*

ALPHYS: CUte Picture of me.

It was a picture of a garbage can with glittery filters all over it.

hotterthanchara uploaded picture

It was Frisk blowing a kiss to the camera

your-local-cutie: Can I take a pic when I shove Ethan into this lava

h0tman225: AT LEAST LET ME TAKE A PICTURE BEFORE I DIE

 _h0tman225 uploaded a photo_

It was Ethan running away with Aiden's hat as Aiden chased him with his gun out.

 _whyamihere3 added the picture to an album labeled, "Adventure Pics" and proceeded in taking a photo of her and the other girls_

 _Pinkbubblegum2000 uploaded a photo, which was of her and Ivan making funny faces_

 _justasimplebutterfly522 added whyamihere3's photo to an album named "girl power", added Pinkbubblegum2000's photo to an album labeled, "OTPS", and added h0tman225's photo to a simple, "Ethan ❤️"_

your-local-cutie: someone's got a crush~~~

AManOfScience1123: Te he. Adorable.

justasimplebutterfly522: no

AManOfScience1123: Yes.

your-local-cutie: totally not

Pinkbubblegum2000: Why did you add the photo of Ivan and I to OTPS /0_0/

whyamihere3: why not

your-local-cutie: I got my hat back!

h0tman225: and I got a bruised face

hotterthanchara: This conversation is too much to handle I'm dying please send help XXXXXXXXD

 _justasimplebutterfly522 trashed the posts of the conversation_

h0tman225: What? Whatever was there won't load on my phone! WHY ISN'T IT WORKING? Wait... Harmony, you made a collection labeled Ethan❤️?

justasimplebutterfly522: ...

h0tman225: so you did! Well, you CAN'T be a better best friend than me!

 _h0tman225 made a new album labeled "Harmony :DDDDDDD"_

h0tman225: now we're even. don't try to pull a fast one on me again

Pinkbubblegum2000: it's official. you're an idiot.

h0tman225: no I'm not!

* * *

Frisk's phone rang once more. She had gotten use to this.

"A-Alphys here! The northern door w-will unlock when you s-Solve the puzzles on the right and left." There was a click and the call ended. Before Frisk could say anything, Ivan and Emily had already wandered off to the left side, Aiden and Tessa taking the right.

Ethan and Harmony both blinked, "Aren't we going to talk this through?" Harmony called, Aiden and Ivan both waving it off, "It'll be fine!"

Harmony looked to Frisk for guidance, "um... we just stand here?"

She nodded simply, glancing over at Chara, who was eating a chocolate bar. Ghost chocolate bar. Whatever. Either way, he shrugged.

Alphys called Emily's phone, "h-hear! I'll hack into the CORE's database and disable that laser for you!" The blue laser disappeared.

"Thanks Alphys!" Emily was beaming, but it wasn't visible through the phone.

"A-Anytime..." She hung up. The two walked in.

Ivan played around with the control pad, determined to solve the puzzle. His phone buzzed, along with Emily's. Emily looked at the phone, reading. It was a one on one conversation between Ethan and Harmony, although the two were right next to each other. Emily giggled, not wanting to risk destroying the conversation by encouraging them. She then looked at Ivan, showed him the phone, and said,

"The ship must sail!" She declared, totally distracting him

"Yes, it shall! OTPs!" He cheered, pumping a fist in the air, mimicking the typical Ethan gesture. He grinned before working back on the puzzle.

* * *

justasimplebutterfly522: i'm bored can one of you talk to me

h0tman225: I mean I'm here

justasimplebutterfly522: oh, hi!

h0tman225: hi!

justasimplebutterfly522: i wonder if frisk's going to join the conversation, she's been on that phone for an unnecessary amount of time without being on the Undernet 0_o

h0tman225: rather talk to her than me?

justasimplebutterfly522: that wasn't what I was implying...

h0tman225: i'll take your word for it. anyways... what to talk about...

justasimplebutterfly522: um... what was your favorite part of this adventure?

h0tman225: hm... perhaps the hangout with Undyne. The author did a good job on that chapter.

justasimplebutterfly522: stop breaking the fourth wall

MelodicNinjaLily: did I hear a compliment from one of my characters?

h0tman225: How did you even get here? And why isn't your username your fanfiction one?

MelodicNinjaLily: i mean it's no fun to just steal my own username right

justasimplebutterfly522: isn't it a fake username to hide your identity in the first place

MelodicNinjaLily: lol yeet

justasimplebutterfly522: where were we...?

h0tman225: well, I told you my favorite part of the adventure. Yours?

justasimplebutterfly522: Mine? Well... maybe it was when we were in Snowdin and were separated from the others... and you were brave enough to try and face those dogs head on... but even when you were on one HP... you still kept going. I guess that part as a whole just stood out to me...

h0tman225: wow... that sounds meaningful. Mine was pretty vague I guess. But I guess that wasn't really my favorite part. I think it was in Waterfall... when I was knocked out for a while. You took me around... Aiden told me, you know? He may have carried me on my back, but you were the one more concerned for my protection. Ivan didn't spare any details about what he knew, and pretty much gave me a recap on the whole experience. So... thanks for that. I owe you one.

justasimplebutterfly522: no... you don't. consider it a way of thanking you for what you've done...

h0tman225: Alright.

* * *

Ethan looked up and grinned at her. She smiled back, as she was about to talk, a message appeared on the conversation.

* * *

your-local-cutie: I CALL CRAP I DID MORE THAN HARMONY

whyamihere3: give it a rest aiden

Pinkbubblegum2000: YOU SERIOUSLY INTERRUPTED A NICE CONVERSATION FOR THAT? YOU ARE DEAD!

ManOfScience1123: imbecile.

hotterthanchara: why do I even try anymore

your-local-cutie: ;-;

* * *

"FINISHED!" Ivan and Aiden said in unison, hitting the arrow in the top of the screen with the bullet. Tessa followed Aiden back to the center with the other three. Frisk was whistling quietly as she waited for them to arrive. Emily jumped onto launch pad that threw her to the large door ahead. Everyone followed, Ethan hopping on last and doing a front flip. The door started rumbling, making a violent, loud noise. Harmony immediately cringed, covering her ears. Emily flinched, running through the opening as soon as it was wide enough for her to fit through. The door stopped and the group entered.

Their phones buzzed, but Alphys called them before they could check.

"u-um... u-uh... hey! About the puzzles on the right and left... they're a little difficult to explain, but-"

"We finished them!" Emily chirped happily, proud of what the group had accomplished on their own.

"erm... you already solved them? A-Awesome!" She hung up before Frisk could say goodbye. They stepped on the launch pads cautiously and were shot over to the other side. Harmony looked around in the dark, clutching to the person closest to her.

"I-It's awfully dark in there, isn't it... I'll hack into the system to brighten things up..."

The lights gradually got brighter as Emily looked around. It was a kitchen! Harmony let go of Ethan.

"A kitchen!" Emily marveled around, grinning at the sight. Her eyes were wide with excitement, "I didn't know there was one in Hotland! This is amazing!"

"N-No! Not actually!" Alphys responded quickly as Mettaton popped up from behind the counter.

"Oh yes!" He had on a chef's hat and was holding a microphone, "WELCOME, BEAUTIES, TO THE UNDERGROUND'S PREMIER COOKING SHOW! COOKING WITH A KILLER ROBIT!"

"Oh dear." Tessa sighed softly.

"A KILLER robot?" Ethan glared at him.

"This doesn't sound all that appealing." Harmony mused quietly.

"I do not approve of this notion." Ivan stated matter-of-factly and, in all honesty, a little worriedly.

"Well, it's just cooking!" Emily tried to defend, "It can't be that bad, right?"

"Not sure about that Emily!" Aiden argued as Mettaton continued what he was saying,

"Pre-heat your ovens, because we've got a very special recipe for you today! We're going to be making- a cake!"

"I love cakes!" Emily bounced up and down.

"IS IT CHOCOLATE?!" Ethan screeched.

"I'll take a bite of that action!" Chara nodded in agreement at the mention of chocolate.

"My lovely assistants here will gather the ingredients! Everyone give them a BIG hand!" A bunch of confetti sprinkled down on everyone's head.

"We'll need sugar, milk, and eggs! Go for it darlings!" Mettaton encouraged. Emily walked over and grabbed the eggs, Ethan grabbed the sugar, and Aiden grabbed the milk. They placed them on the counter in front of Mettaton.

"Perfect! Great job, beauties! We've got all the ingredients we need to make a cake! Milk, sugar, eggs... oh my! Wait one magnificent moment! How could I forget the most important ingredient!"

"What is it? Chocolate chips? Are you putting chocolate chips in the batter?" Ethan leaned in a little closer, barely containing himself.

"SEVEN HUMAN SOULS." Mettaton held up a chainsaw. He began to approach them.

"NO CHOCOLATE CHIPS?!"

"IS THAT REALLY THE POINT RIGHT NOW, ETHAN!" Harmony yelled.

"C-couldn't you use a substitution in the recipe?" Alphys suggested, trying to defend them.

"A different ingredient? You mean a non-HUMAN substation? ...Why?"

"What if someone's... uh... vegan?"

"SCREW THAT, CARNIVORES WILL RULE THIS-" Ethan began [a/n: go carnivores]

Harmony pinched him. Hard.

"Yeah! We could make something for ANYONE to enjoy!" Emily agreed. Her mom was a vegetarian (even though she wasn't) and most of the time she respected what her mother made for her, and enjoyed it, frankly.

"Uh... well, I mean-"

"THAT'S A BRILLIANT IDEA ALPHYS! ACTUALLY, I HAPPEN TO HAVE AN OPTION RIGHT HERE!" He pointed to a convenient counter. "MTT BRAND ALWAYS-CONVENIENT HUMAN SOUL SUBSTITUTE! A CAN OVER THERE!"

This didn't add up in Ivan's mind. Something was off... off about Mettaton having the most convenient thing for them. As if he knew what would happen...

"Well, how about you darlings go get it?" Mettaton hinted, looking at them.

"Fine." Aiden led the way; however, the counter shot up in the air before he could grab the can, "What the-"

"Fun dip!" Ethan finished for him to keep this fanfic from being even less family friendly.

"By the way, our show runs on a strict schedule. If you can't get the can in one minute, we'll have to go back to the ORIGINAL plan! Better start climbing, Time's ticking beauties."

"There's no way you can climb up there on time!" Alphys panicked when Frisk picked up the phone as it rang expectedly, "F-F-Fortunately, I have a plan! When you got your phones, I gave them a few new features! You see that huge button that says 'JETPACK'? Watch this!" A jetpack was put on every kid's back, "You should have enough fuel to reach the top! Now, get up there!"

"This is strangely convenient... something doesn't seem right about this all..." Ivan murmured, beginning to fly upwards with the others.

Ethan dodged a bunch of eggs, "Hey! No fair!"

"It's cloudy with a chance of... milk?" Emily dodged the milk being poured over them. Frisk dodged everything with no reply. Ivan moved away from each falling projectile narrowly, still a little lost in his own thoughts; on the other hand, Aiden was 100% focused and ready to get it over with. Tessa was concerned about the amount of fuel she had. Finally, Aiden reached the top.

"My. My. My. It seems you've bested me. Only because you've had the help of the brilliant Doctor Alphys! Oh, I loathe to think what would've happened if it weren't for her. Well, Toodles!" He began flying off when he suddenly turned around at Emily's call,

"Oh, yes, about the substitution? Haven't you seen a cooking show before? I already baked the cake ahead of time, so you may as well forget it!"

"Wow... we... we... did it!" Alphys cheered as Frisk answered her phone for the umpteenth time, "We really did it! Great job out there, team!" She hung up. Aiden tried to pull the substitution off the table, but it was glued there.

"SO WE DON'T GET TO MAKE A CAKE? NO CHOCOLATE?!" Ethan sobbed, falling to his knees. Harmony just patted his back effortlessly.

* * *

whyamihere3: great job with the jet packs, alphys

ALPHYS: Thanks...?

AManOfScience1123: though I must wonder, why did you install them in the first place

ALPHYS: ...?

* * *

"S-See that building in the distance?" Alphys asked through the phone, "That's the CORE. The source of all the Underground's power."

"Wow! So this the so called 'CORE'!" Emily remarked, in awe, "It's HUGE!"

Frisk silently saved at the star that was invisible to the others.

"It converts geothermal energy into magical energy by..." Her voice trailed off, "Either way, that's where we're going to go! From there, you'll get home..."

"Home sweet home!" Aiden whistled in a cheer.

"Back to mom and dad!" Ivan gave a thumbs up to his brother.

"I can't wait to see Mom again!" Emily squealed.

"Dad..." Tessa whispered.

"Josh..." Harmony smiled at the thought of her younger brother.

"Maybe I can find Simon..." Ethan said abruptedly. His eyes widened, "That's his name, Simon!" He completely lit up, "Ever since I forgot the most basic things... I now remember... my dog's name is Simon!"

Harmony squeezed his shoulder, "Ethan... he... ran away years ago..." She muttered gently, trying to let him down easy. Ethan had revealed to her long ago that he was certain he was hit by a car. A few days after that, he found his dog's body.

"So? Why give up hope?"

"You... buried him backyard..." Harmony replied solemnly.

"Oh... then I've got nothing to look forward to... absolutely nothing." He seemed a little crestfallen. The others looked guilty.

Frisk didn't give her reply, but simply said sorry. She began to walk, beckoning the others to follow.

* * *

Credit ponystoriesandothers for the "Grouptale kids have the undernet" idea. It made the chapter more fun to write. I have a lot going on for the next two weeks, so I may not update. Happy early birthday to ponystories too, if I don't update before then :D Thanks for reading guys and see you next time~


	25. FILE 6: LOADING

**Yo guys, your author is back to give you another chapter of Grouptale. Before we get started, I want to clear some things up about the kids and their appearances. Tessa and Emily's appearances are kinda changing every single chapter (well really just the beginning said a certain color and it's different now) and I haven't confirmed their appearances yet, so I'm gonna do this right now. I'll also add their ages and birthdays, but not last names, I'm saving most for the end of the story.**

Tessa- Long brown hair and light, baby blue eyes. Usually wearing a light blue shirt and a cyan skirt, but as underground I think I labeled her as wearing a cyan dress. _Patience Soul._ Birthday is January 6th. She's 13. Five foot five inches

Ethan- Short, light brown hair. It's kinda sticking down (the bandanna contributes to that), with orange eyes. Orange t-shirt, navy shorts, black shoes (a total mess). _Bravery Soul._ Birthday is February 25th (hence h0tman **225** ). He's 13. He's five foot six inches

Harmony- Very long, silky auburn hair. It's in a bun usually, but sometimes in a ponytail. She usually wears a dark blue skirt and a dark blue shirt (she coordinates her clothing lol, unlike me). _Integrity Soul._ Birthday is May 22nd (hence justasimplebutterfly **522** ) and no I didn't make it that to be opposite to Ethan's. 13. She's five foot four inches

Ivan- long black hair with purple eyes and black framed glasses. Before getting his emotions back, his eyes were gray. He's a sweater vest kind of guy, he has a purple turtleneck on Underground though. _Perseverance Soul._ His birthday is July 5th. 12. He's five foot two inches.

Emily- short blonde hair with emerald green eyes. She has her apron on over her undershirt (Green) and wears shorts. _Kindness Soul._ Her birthday is June 9th. 12. She's only reaching five foot but eventually would get taller.

Aiden- dirty blonde hair and amber eyes. He has the cowboy hat, obviously, and wears a faded yellow hoodie. He has his gun. He's usually cold so that's why he has a hoodie on. _Justice Soul._ His birthday is September 30th. 14. (Oldest of his friend group) Five foot eight inches.

 **EXTRAS:**

Frisk- You know, short brown hair (similar to Emily's), brown eyes (nope they aren't red in this whoops. They're red when she uses her sword uwu). Purple and blue hoodie. Stick and Bandage. _Red/Determination Soul._ Her birthday is August 1st. Age is presumably 13-15. Solid five foot eight inches

Chara- Green and yellow hoodie, red eyes, pink cheeks, golden locket, brown hair like chocolate. You know the drill. _Red/Determination Soul._ His birthday is unknown. Age of death is presumably 14-15. Five foot ten inches

 **Let's do the story now folks**

* * *

" _Daddddddddddy!" Emily tugged on her father's pant leg, "Can you help me cook because Mommy's at work?" She batted her eyelashes, begging with the most adorable face._

 _"Of course, honey. What do you wanna make?" He picked the young girl up. Emily looked around the cabinet (with the help of her father) and picked out a chocolate cake mix. He seemed satisfied with her choice and the two began to make the cake._

 _Despite being seven, Emily's father noticed she had taken a quick fascination to cooking. He approved; after all, how couldn't he be proud of his little girl? She already had gotten the eggs, the vegetable oil, and the water. He got the measuring cups and poured the vegetable oil into one of them, letting Emily tip it in. He did the same with the water, but cracked the eggs himself. He got a whisk and started whisking the combination into suitable batter for the cake. He poured it into a pan and put it in the oven. Emily and her father decided that while they waited, they could play video games in the living room. She couldn't be happier._

 _When the oven beeped, her dad pulled the cake out of the oven. He grinned at Emily, "What do we do next, sweetie?" Emily reached up for him and he pulled her up. She put a toothpick in the center to see if it had risen the way it needed to. Finally, they did her favorite part- ice it! They had a few tubes of chocolate icing and they spread it across the cake neatly. The cake was done- and looked delectable, too! Saving it for dessert for the following day, the two put it in the fridge. Emily yawned and rubbed at her eyes, making it abundantly clear she was tired. The sun had barely set, but her father tucked her into bed. She was already drifting off to sleep when he got back to his feet, walked over to the door, and switched off the light as he whispered, "Goodnight, Emily."_

 _"Goodnight Daddy..." She murmured, falling into a slumber moments later._

* * *

 _"It isn't fair! I won't believe it!" Emily heard from the kitchen when she got home from school. She set down her backpack, hopping over, concerned. When she reached to touch her mother's arm, she turned away and continued speaking,_

 _"If he is, then it's your fault! Why did you send the one firefighter with a family?" She paces around the kitchen, glancing at Emily occasionally and then looking away. As if she was hiding something..._

 _"No, you're crazy!" She argued, "He would never volunteer for something that dangerous! He wouldn't! He wouldn't risk leaving Emily like that!" Her voice began to become desperate, "please..."_

 _Emily frowned, uncertain of what was going on, "What's wrong, Mama?" She whispered gently. Fearfully._

 _"Yes... that... would be great..." She hung up the phone after a few more words. She slowly bent down and picked Emily up. She held her tightly._

 _Emily didn't understand. Not one bit. She cocked her head to the side innocently. Wondering what was wrong._

 _"Where's Daddy?" She questioned, searching around for him in the quiet house. It was bitter silence; almost as if the world had stopped._

 _"Daddy... Daddy's not coming back, Emily..." She told her gently, brushing her fingers through her soft, thin hair. She looked up, her expression wavering, "You mean... he's..." Her voice trailed off, not being able to speak her thoughts._

 _"He's... he's dead, Emily." There were already tears streaming down her face._

 _She shook her head and fussed, "Stop lying, stop lying!" She put her hands over her ears. It wasn't true, it couldn't be! He couldn't be dead! He promised her he wouldn't! He promised!_

 _"He... got you this, Emily... it was... going to be for your birthday." She pulled out a box from underneath the cabinet, setting her down. She sniffled and looked over at her mother, as if to confirm if she could open it. The response was a small nod. She carefully unfolded the flaps of the box. Inside was an apron. It was white and tied in the back, but what really made it stand out was the pastel pink heart on it. She picked it up, knowing it would be too big for her. But she smiled solemnly as the tears dripped down her face, her lip quivering._

 _He was gone._

* * *

 _Emily sat on the park's bench calmly. Maybe a year had passed. Everyone had moved on. Everyone except for her. Her knees were pulled up to her chest._

 _"Is this seat taken?" A boy asked timidly, his expression half blank. He had shiny black hair and unenthusiastic purple eyes._

 _Emily turned a little bit to make room, "No... all yours." She replied softly, barely audible, yet audible enough for him._

 _"Thanks..." They sat there in silence for a bit, the weather dying down and beginning to drizzle. But the boy sat there. He didn't move. Neither did Emily._

 _He was a little more on the chubby side, she noticed, but didn't comment. Besides, she was only nine. She didn't have to be rude._

 _"My... my name is Ivan." He whispered quietly, his voice shaking. He looked up at her, "What are you doing out here in the rain?"_

 _"I'm Emily... I... could ask you the same thing..." She countered, falling silent. He licked his lips, looking slightly amused._

 _"Fair enough. I'm here... here because my sister's gone... passed... whatever way you wanna phrase it. I thought I'd come here because it's not... not home. I'm tired of home... but why are you here? Doesn't look like you're too happy either..."_

 _"I... I lost my dad a year or two ago... and... I'm angry at him now. I'm... angry he left... without a goodbye... without one last word to say to me or mother..."_

 _"Erin... Erin went the same way... well, I just mean... she left us and only Aiden heard her last words... and... I miss her..." He sighed in an upset tone. The pain and suffering in his voice was crystal clear._

 _"I mean... why did my dad have to be a stupid firefighter? Why'd he have to volunteer to go into the collapsing building? After all... it wasn't fair. It should've been someone else's dad. Not mine. What did I do to deserve the hurt and heartache of his death?" She realized her explanation had turned into a rant and it wasn't what Ivan wanted to hear likely._

 _"It would've taken away someone else's dad... and he did it because he was selfless. Because he was caring. Because he was a true hero..." Ivan's words hit Emily like a bullet to the chest as he continued, "...please promise me something. Promise me that you won't give up. That you'll keep going. For your mom's sake, and for some random stranger's sake. I... I want Erin's story to be an inspirational one. You may have lost that fight... but the war isn't over. It's up to you to keep battling life... and not dwell on the fact that it was your dad's fault he's gone."_

 _"...I'll try. I'll say... now that I see you closer, you look like someone at school. Do you go to [insert school name here]?"_

 _"Ah... yes. That's where I go. Probably have a different teacher from you, which would be reasonable."_

 _"I guess I'll be seeing you around then, Ivan." She finally cracked a smile for the first time in forever. Ivan tried to smile back. Emily got to her feet, fixing her hair._

 _"See you around, Emily..."_

 _After years, Emily had finally succeeded in doing the one thing she didn't know how to do; move on. And it was all thanks to her friend Ivan._

* * *

 _"You know, it wouldn't kill you to crack a smile once in a while."_

 _Ivan had come over to Emily's house to help her with her upcoming cooking competition, along with Tessa, Aiden, and Aiden's new friend, Ethan. Ethan was weird, they had collected. Emily, a little upset with his current expression, scolded him for it._

 _"It hurts my mouth." Ivan shrugged, trying to defend himself. He wasn't the same kid that Emily had met a little over three years ago. He transformed into a completely different person. Emily guessed that, perhaps, it had just been him finally moving on from Erin's death, no matter how comforting and supportive she attempted to be._

 _"Come on, Em. He smiles sometimes." Tessa fixed the ribbon in her feathery brown hair. Emily doubted her, as sad as it sounded. She shook her head to herself as Aiden and Ethan were being idiots and trying to catch cheese balls they were throwing in the air into their mouths._

 _"Hey, Eva, or Evelyn, or whatever your name is, why do you like cooking so much?" Ethan questioned before popping another cheese ball in his mouth. He was wearing his typical attire- a t-shirt and shorts. Only one problem his friends had with this; it was winter! Who wears shorts in winter?!_

 _"First of all, it's Emily," She correctly calmly, not much of a person to snap, "And why not? Cooking is amazing. And when you get into baking- cakes are delicious!"_

 _"We're making cake? Awesome!" He pounded his fist in the air with an enthusiastic grin._

 _"Well, not exactly... we're making_ cup _cakes." She explained in correction._

 _"Aw, same thing!" He waved it off, sitting on one of the barstools at the counter. Aiden slid down next to him, eyeing Emily, "Game plan? Idea of what kind of cupcakes we're gonna make?"_

 _"Hm... I was thinking... maybe lemon cupcakes?" She said as if it was a question as opposed to an answer._

 _"I'm down. Mom makes them all the time." Aiden gave his thumbs up._

 _"Lucky. My mom doesn't do anything like that except sit around and look pretty," Ethan complained, barely even noticing his own disrespect and blatant disregard for his parents, "Not that I'm saying she's pretty to begin with."_

 _"Anyways, I'll go get the eggs and water. You get the other ingredients?" She requested to no one in particular, going to get the eggs from the fridge. The others helped carefully. Every time someone messed up, Emily tensed up even more. It was a little disastrous, but they made it through and finished the cupcakes for the competition the next day. They would all go there to see the judges try her dish, and support her, of course. Giving their farewells, the kids left and prepared for the morning._

* * *

 _It was a sunny, yet frigid morning when Emily woke up. It wasn't snowing, but it was chilly, and icicles had formed on her car outside. She got ready excitedly, keeping her eye on the prize and praying she'd be the one to win._

 _When it hit noon, she was off to the contest, wanting to arrive early with her cupcakes. Her green eyes glinted determinedly, her short blonde hair bouncing behind her as she speed-walked into the school. Looking around, she already spotted five or six other people with their desserts ready to be presented. Her stomach felt queasy, but despite her uneasiness she walked over to the counter and they gave her a seven. She assumed it meant she was the seventh there and seventh to present. She strolled over to her table and set her box down, feeling herself freeze up a little from the idea of a bunch of people watching her be judged. As the competition started, Emily was struggling to pull herself together. Fortunately for her, her two closest friends walked in to check on her- Ivan and Tessa._

 _Ivan shook her shoulder a little with his hand, "Emily, what's wrong? You look as if you've seen a ghost..."_

 _He was right, indeed. Her skin was pale and she was feeling a little lightheaded. It wasn't from stress, it wasn't anxiety, but it was her dad. This was her first competition without his assistance (she hadn't done any since his death) and all that was on her mind was that he loved baking. It was special to him through his mother, which made it special to her through him. It was a bit nerve wracking to be thinking of every second, which was why she was so afraid to step on out there._

 _"Em, you've got this," Tessa reassured her, "You're the best cook we know, and we're counting on you to at least try your best. You shouldn't expect to win, but you should expect to get a little criticism and feel better about your cooking. This is a lot coming from me, considering I've been in your shoes multiple times, but I know you've got this."_

 _"Yeah, Em! Just go out there and put on the bravest face you can. You didn't get this far by giving up, right?" Ivan motivated. Emily inhaled, made sure she was good, and exhaled. The worries slowly flooded out of her and she planned to do one thing; make her father proud._

 _"And, coming in at Number Seven, Emily M!" The announcer called, shining a light at the curtain she came out of. She gave a slight wave to the audience and got over to the judges as she set down her tray._

 _The first judge picked one up and examined it, "Such perfect outer design..." He praised, taking of the wrapper gently, which made a crinkling noise and it got off of the cupcake. He took a bite and set it down,_

 _"I give it a nine." He held up a sign with the number nine on it. Emily breathed. So far, so good._

 _The second judge, however, was not so pleased. She scrunched up her face at the appearance and took a nibble at it. A little irritated, she set it down,_

 _"I give it a five."_

A five? _Emily thought to herself, her mind spinning. That was the worst she had ever gotten! And she knew the cupcakes had been made perfectly! But a five? Out of ten? That was only 50%! Her mind swirled with endless possibilities of what she had done wrong._ Were they overcooked? Did she not read the ingredients correctly?

 _She glanced away, faint blush appearing on her cheeks out of embarrassment._

 _The third judge observed it thoroughly before she took a bite out of it. She held up a sign with a ten on it._

 _Emily couldn't help but give a sigh of relief. At least the other two judges liked her work! There was a rise of clapping from the crowd, but she could see the people who were clapping the loudest were her friends, squished near the end of the seats. She gave a timid, collected wave, and disappeared off of the stage._

* * *

 _"I still can't believe you got second place! Second! Out of like, what, thirty people?!" Aiden was still in awe of the shiny metal Emily had earned. It glistened as she held it._

 _"That second judge was pretty strict, apparently. Some old grouch." Ethan replied simply, shrugging it off. He couldn't help but admit it; he was surprised himself._

 _"I heard that, Mr. Ethan!" A voice from behind him glared. He bolted and out of the auditorium._

 _"What a crazy adventure." Tessa giggled, quite content with the contest._

 _"Are you going to compete next year too, Em?" Aiden inquired, not really curious, as he already knew the answer, but answering anyways._

 _She smiled to herself, not even paying attention._

"Are you still proud of me, Dad?"

* * *

 **Lol the cooking contest was totally improvised. Hope you guys liked Emily's backstory, it was a tad sad to write. Author outtttt**


	26. Another Show and Some side plot

**Welp. We are long overdue for a Tessa perspective, I noticed. So here's her turn-**

 **And there's a little Harmony at the end too**

 **CHAPTER TWENTY**

 **.:TESSA:.**

Tessa was the last one to enter the elevator, and when she did it, she did it carefully. She didn't really trust elevators, knowing the cables could snap at any minute and they could plummet to their death.

She watched Aiden and Ethan fight over the buttons and which one they should press. Despite knowing she should step in, Tessa just blinked at the two from the corner of the elevator. Ethan pressed one of them labeled "R2." As the elevator clicked and started moving. Ivan grasped his notebook in his hands carefully as they moved down, and Emily just hummed elevator music to entertain the others. Harmony quietly hummed along, too, barely showing the small grin on her face.

Frisk stood in the center of it, her eyes glimmering faintly. She closed them and listened to the tune the two girls were humming.

Overall, Tessa was calm with their presence.

The elevator came to a halt, shaking. Tessa paled and Ethan squealed, as if he had never been in an elevator as it stopped before. Really only two things scared Ethan: bugs and sudden stops.

The group filed out of the elevator and followed the path. Up ahead was Sans, and he was working his post it seemed. Not really. He was lazy, he never actually worked.

"hey, kids," Sans waved to the eight (including Chara, of course), "wanna buy a hot dog? it's only 30 g."

"Would I!" Ethan grinned, pulling some money out. Sans shook his head,

"Looks like your pockets are full. Better put it on your head, free of charge. it's on the house- or on your head, more frankly." Magically, one appeared on his head. But Ethan didn't take it off. He just planned on getting more for free. Because he was CHEAP.

"Can I have another one?" Ethan asked over and over, another one stacked on his head by Sans every time. When he tried to get a thirtieth one (half of the group was ready to continue on without him at this point), Sans denied his request, "you see, kid, twenty-nine is okay, but thirty is just excessive."

Ethan pouted and folded his arms. Ivan tapped his shoulder, "Just a small problem, really it's no big deal. But... how do you plan on getting those off of your head exactly?"

Ethan slowly blinked. If you couldn't tell, he didn't think it through.

"...you didn't intend to think about that before you got thirty hotdogs?" Ivan raised an eyebrow, amused.

"Come on, he's Ethan, when does he ever think." Frisk snickered in reply, covering her mouth.

"You guys are all bullies!" Ethan sobbed, in hysterics. This was the regular routine of course, where Ethan just complained and made his spiel about feeling attacked by them.

Tessa was talking to one of the monsters, a little distanced away.

"Isn't it weird there's SNOW on that guy's roof?" The monster murmured to Tessa. Tessa took a double-take. She still couldn't get use to that type of magic. It was burning outside, for Pete's sake!

"Yeah... that is strange. But so is Sans." Tessa shrugged, the monster tapping her chin before replying, "He's too lazy to clean it off, probably."

"I'm just amazed it's still there." Tessa chuckled. But she didn't say it out loud. Just in her head. But hearing it in her head amused her more than saying it out loud to someone else. The monster gave a goodbye and Tessa walked back over to the others.

* * *

 _ALPHYS posted a status._

ALPHYS: dinner with the girlfriend ;)

It was a picture of a cat girl figurine with insta-noodles.

AManOfScience1123: you can't date an object! It's strictly impractical and improbable!

h0tman225: i dated a potato once, so let someone dream, Ivan!

Pinkbubblegum2000: you dated a potato? what?!

whyamihere3: im not even gonna ask

justasimplebutterfly522: ...

your-local-cutie: 0_0

hotterthanchara: it isn't the same as dating a ghost, right?

whyamihere3: im just gonna end the conversation here

* _CoolSkeleton95 posted a picture_

CoolSkeleton95: ARE WE POSTING HOT "PICS?" HERE IS ME AND MY COOL FRIEND!

It was a picture of Papyrus wearing sunglasses. Pictures of big biceps were pasted on his arms, which were also somehow wearing sunglasses.

whyamihere3: or not.

h0tman225: NICE BICEPS, PAPYRUS! I've got sweet ones two -3-

your-local-cutie: Yeah no.

h0tman225: BIGGER THAN YOURS AIDEN

Pinkbubblegum2000: oooooooo roasted

your-local-cutie: not a roast if it's true

hotterthanchara: you just roasted yourself

your-local-cutie: I know because what he said is trueeeeeeeee

justasimplebutterfly522: you're handling this surprisingly well

AManOfScience1123: just wait for it

your-local-cutie: I REFUSE TO DEAL WITH THIS ETHAN AJAIQIWKWOWODOSOWOWOWOWOOWEIUERUUDUCNRNTHIS KEOWKEKWKEKEKWWJJWHEHEIWOQOWJDJEIWICIDKWNDJFOEOWOWIDKKKQKOPPLWKWQKKAMSMXNXBZVBZJXJXIXIXISIEKWKQOSKXBCKCOOVOCJEBWJEKWJWJWJAJWJWJ

whyamihere3: your breaking my phone smh

AManOfScience1123: Incorrect use of your.

h0tman225: I'm the strongest 😎

Pinkbubblegum2000: Well, if that makes you happy :)

justasimplebutterfly522: he wishes he was the strongest...

h0tman225: nUuUuUuUuUuUuU

* * *

Tessa launched into a battle with a Pyrope. It shot fireballs at her soul. She barely dodged. Aiden jumped in front of one and took the hit. He was slammed into the ground, struggling to get to his feet. Emily, worried, jumped in. She pressed heat up and continued pressing it until spare was available. She jumped over to Tessa and Aiden, freaking out worriedly, "Are you two okay?!"

"My soul just took a hit. Y'all okay?" Aiden clutched his chest slightly but looked okay.

"Are you sure you're okay Aiden?!" Tessa countered, concerned.

"Are you... worried?" Aiden snickered, cracking a smile. He put his hat back on and fiddled with it a bit, climbing back to his feet.

"Maybe..." She mumbled, not really knowing how to reply.

* * *

 _ALPHYS updated her status._

ALPHYS: LOL, that's a joke, right CoolSkeleton95?

CoolSkeleton95: THE ONLY JOKE HERE IS HOW STRONG MY MUSCLES ARE!

justasimplebutterfly522: I'm not laughing...

h0tman225: you're a party pooper apparently

your-local-cutie: we knew this

justasimplebutterfly522: ...

* * *

* _NAPSTABLOOK22 sent a friend request_

whyamihere3: hey i got a request

h0tman225: ME TOO!

justasimplebutterfly522: Ooh me too

AManOfScience1123: It appears I have too

your-local-cutie: noice

hotterthanchara: oh cool it's Napstablook

 _*It seems the request has already rejected itself_

Pinkbubblegum2000: ): poor Napstablook

* * *

"H-Hi! It's D-Dr. Alphys. This p-puzzle is kinda... uh... timing based. S-See those switches over there? Y-You're going to have to click all three in three seconds..."

"Ha. Easy." Ethan brushed it off, "Just send us all in a line and if we miss it then we miss it and the next person flips it."

Frisk nodded, "It's actually very basic when there's seven of us."

"O-oh... o-okay... um... b-bye." She hung up.

Easy. Ethan led the way and flipped all switches no problem. Alphys called a little too late,

"o-oh... y-you did it? G-Good job!" She hung up again. Frisk just shrugged.

* * *

ALPHYS: that's the last time I try to help with a puzzle lmao

h0tman225: not my fault I'm so awesome

justasimplebutterfly522: ETHAN!

hotterthanchara: R U D E

Pinkbubblegum2000: Ethan don't be mean we may have offended her D:

ALPHYS: what do you mean lol I don't even know you?

your-local-cutie: now I'm confused

* * *

"H-Hey, I'm going to the bathroom, I'm going to be MIA for a bit. You'll get this puzzle yourself!" Alphys told the kids before she hung up.

"Hopefully..." Tessa sighed quietly.

It was back to those launchpads. But this time, it was a certain mechanism that controlled which way it launched. It was a puzzle, and it really got on Ethan's nerves. Tessa seemed okay with it and tried it. Harmony followed. But all of them were launched back onto the escalator thingies back. Except Ethan. He got across.

"Later losers." He started walking off down the path.

"ETHAN GET BACK HERE!" Harmony called across. Ethan groaned and turned around, staring across.

"What do you want me to do, you're all slow." He whined. If looks could kill, he'd be dead.

"Think of something!"

He searched around, "Oh, what does this button do?" He tapped one on the side of the conveyor belt. It reversed for them to get across because PLOT CONVENIENCE.

"Wow. Who knew Ethan doing something potentially dangerous actually worked." Ivan blinked in surprise. Yay! They were across! Harmony sent a slight glare at Ethan, who just nervous gave a thumbs up.

* * *

ALPHYS: lol ppl think Mew Mew 2 is better than Mew Mew 1?

AManOfScience1123: Ha, I know right, people are so dumb.

ALPHYS: Better be a joke lol... don't they get it? It ruins her ENTIRE character arc.

AManOfScience1123: Totally agree.

ALPHYS: its trash. 0 stars.

your-local-cutie: oh yeah you made me watch them with you once. both were sooooo stupid.

whyamihere3: what. an. idiot.

AManOfScience: Aiden, you don't watch anime regularly, you can't have an opinion.

your-local-cutie: wanna bet bro

hotterthanchara: anime is okay I guess

AManOfScience: ...okay?! just okay?!

Pinkbubblegum2000: Wait... Alphys... aren't you in the bathroom?

whyamihere3: Wait you're right wat

* * *

They walked down the path with no problem. Seems the guards had went to go get some nice cream together.

"Okay... I'm back!" Alphys told the kids. It was pitch black. Tessa immediately knew the one answer: Mettaton.

"Pretty d-dark huh? I'll use my h-hacking skills to brighten things up in there..."

The lights came up and Mettaton was sitting in a news reporter chair. Everyone groaned.

"Oh no..." Alphys whispered.

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHH YESSSSSSSSSSSS," Mettaton practically sang, "GOOD EVENING, BEAUTIES AND GENTLEBEAUTIES! THIS IS METTATON REPORTING LIVE FROM MTT NEWS!"

"LET US GO EVIL ROBOT!" Ethan screeched at him.

"I CAN'T DO THAT, DARLING! WE NEED THE RATINGS! ANYWAYS, AN INTERESTING SITUATION HAS ARISEN IN EASTERN HOTLAND!"

"Well, this isn't good." Ivan mused, stating the obvious.

"You think?!" Harmony retorted, frustrated. She could easily go from silent to angry.

"FORTUNATELY, OUR CORRESPONDENTS ARE OUT THERE REPORTING LIVE!" He continued, gesturing to them through the screen or whatever, "BRAVE CORRESPONDENTS! PLEASE FIND SOMETHING NEWS WORTHY!"

"I'm not brave!" Harmony squealed, fixing her hair.

"Neither am I..." Tessa stressed.

"Well, I am!" Ethan put his hands on his hips boldly, as if there wasn't seven visible bombs around the room.

"Are you kidding me? This is just another TV set up!" Aiden explained, knocking on the set. It fell down.

"WELL, THIS WHOLE ROOM IS FILLED WITH BOMBS!" As if it wasn't blatantly obvious, all of the objects were revealed to be bombs.

"I gathered that already," Ivan replied, a little bit on edge, "We'll just have to deactivate them somehow..."

"YOU'BE GOT FIFTEEN SECONDS 'TIL IT BLOWS!" The biggest one in the center of the door started ticking, "OUR NINE VIEWERS WILL LOVE THIS! BEST OF LUCK, BEAUTIES!"

"This isn't fair!" Aiden protested as he dashed off as quickly as possible to a bomb.

"Don't worry guys! Your phones have apps to defuse bombs! Use the defuse option when you can in the defuse zone!"

Ethan was decent at rhythm. He played the guitar, the saxophone, and was trying to learn percussion. He didn't understand at first, but he was launched into battle and somewhat understood, attempting to defuse the bomb. It hit first go.

"Dog defused!"

"Strangely convenient." Ivan commented skeptically as he defused the basketball.

Tessa passed through the lasers to get to her bomb. It was a book with an inconsistent tempo. It took her a few tries, but she did it.

Harmony got the book on the conveyor belt on her second round of trying to even grab it. It was taunting, pretending to go for the defuse zone but going back. She clicked it when possible and the simulation disappeared. Her mind was a little cluttered as her eyes flickered.

Aiden was sweating as he defused the present. This was all being done in fifteen seconds and only three seconds were left. But be managed to do it.

Emily snagged a flying one, getting it in an instant.

Frisk was already at the one in the middle, defusing the agile glass of water with only .5 seconds left on the timer. Everyone breathed, relieved.

"IF YOU DIDN'T DEACTIVATE IT, IT WOULD'VE BLOWN IN FIFTEEN SECONDS! NOW IT'S GOING TO BLOW IN TWO SECONDS!" The timer resumed and hit zero. Tessa was holding onto Aiden (he was the closest thing to her).

"It appears the bomb isn't going off..." Mettaton frowned.

"That's because... while you were m-monologuing... I-I... fixed... Er... changed... um-"

"You deactivated it!" Harmony cheered falsely, "I'm not gonna die!" Her eyes were dimly lit.

"Y-Yeah! T-That's what I did!"

"Curses! My plans have been foiled again! Curse you humans, curse you Dr. Alphys for being so helpful! BUT THANK YOU, MY LOVELY VIEWERS FOR TUNING IN! TOODLES~~~" He shot off like a rocket.

"Y-you know...? I know I was k-kinda weird at f-first, b-but now I have the confidence t-to guide you. D-don't worry about that b-big dumb robot, I-I'll protect you from him. I-If we have to, I could... Nevermind." She hung up for the fortieth time.

* * *

"I'M READY FOR THE CORE!" Ethan jumped up excitedly.

"Me too!" Aiden tipped his hat.

"To home!" Emily cheered. Tessa grinned. The group bolted ahead, including Frisk, but Harmony stood there.

"..." Harmony stayed silent, rubbing her arm awkwardly,

" _Having trouble with your inner demon?"_ Chara whispered in her ear softly, a smirk on his face, " _You can't always be expected to contain it, right? It's just a faster way to freedom, isn't it? You should let the others know how you feel... it'll be better in the long run."_

"G-Get out of my head..." She looked away, turning around. Chara shrugged, floating after Frisk.

"Howdy...!" A voice hummed from behind her. She jumped, leaping back around to face him.

"What's wrong? You seem so afraid of being here. I know you can do a lot more than you claim. You play innocent with your friends and use them as toys. They're so easily manipulated. Nice move."

"I-I-"

"You don't have to explain yourself to me. My only question is, how much longer are you going to hide your knowledge about SOULS and what you think will happen? You continuously string the others along when deep down, you know you guys will never make it to the surface again. It's been tearing you up for the past day, hasn't it?" Flowey had on his creepy grin. Harmony was at a loss for words.

"Just... leave me alone..." She mumbled, mixed emotions.

A vine slithered out of the ground and onto her shoe. Harmony struggled. She was having a hard time admitting to it, too.

"I'm always watching. Doesn't the truth just hurt?" He slowly popped back into the ground.

That's when her soul went gray.

But flickered.

Ever so faintly.

* * *

 **Okay, you gotta admit we needed to know where Flowey was i nthis whole ordeal. This may be longer than originally planned because it's going to end within ten chapters otherwise lol.**

 **What's wrong with Harmony?**

 **Why won't she tell Ethan about it? (because he's an idiot)**

 **Why do I make so much unnecessary drama?**

 **Find out soon on this dumb story**


	27. Struggles and Sleeping Kids

**CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE**

 **.:HARMONY:.**

It was hard to hold up a facade;

What Flowey had said was completely true, yet she had no idea what to do about it. Thinking of Asgore's fight and how she would die after watching Ethan die due to his lack of attention tugged at her heart a bit. She would just stand there and let the fireball hit her, huh?

She was beginning to notice Frisk too; the girl had been pulling up random screens in the most odd places, and her soul was always exactly where it needed to be in that weird place her dreams took her to every once in a while.

Everyone was passed out on the ground (but not close enough to the edge to fall off) and sleeping while she sat there quietly, wondering what she could do with herself. She couldn't even see her own soul in the void place anymore. She had started even losing tact with the other souls. Maybe it was all just an illusion and what she knew was merely coincidental. It was hard to focus with a ghost on her left and a flower on her right. She felt chained to the ground, despite having the ability to get up and leave. Perhaps it was best to be away from her friends, she thought to herself, looking over at Flowey. He was grinning sinisterly. She glanced at Chara. He had an eyebrow raised, "You're seriously considering leaving them behind?"

"The knowledge you know is dangerous," Flowey sang in turn, "You're going to hurt them."

"I... don't want to leave them." She decided, putting her hands over her head.

"Then don't!" Chara's eyes pierced into hers, "You're struggling with yourself, but if you tell them, they'll understand! Why do other humans have such problems with solutions so simple?"

"Naive. They'll hate you. You'll be a freak. Do you seriously think they'll forgive you for knowing so much but never telling them?" Flowey persuaded, popping up besides Ethan's head, "Do you think _he'll_ forgive you?" The boy snored quietly, but he was smiling in his sleep. He looked totally vulnerable, which actually freaked Harmony out.

"No..." Ethan was too impulsive. He wouldn't let her speak before storming off. He would never want to talk to her again...

"Do you think he'll forgive you for being a coward!" Chara hissed, "Do you really think a flower knows more than me?!"

"I don't know!" Her eyes flickered back and forth from blue to gray, "What if both of you are right, what if there is no true answer? All in all, they'll hate me no matter what I do! Everyone always does!" Harmony trembled, "Why is this so hard?! I don't understand why I'm being so stupid! I can't focus on what I'm doing! I'm being pulled to both sides! They'd be better off without me! That's what they've all said! They're going to hate me if they know what I can do! Hate me! They will!"

"That's why you have to leave... before they can hate you to your face." Flowey explained, a small smirk plastered on his face, "You'll just be a liar otherwise."

"...I mean, I could..." She murmured.

"Are you serious?! I'm done! Done trying!" Chara flopped over (as a ghostie)

"Um... I don't know much about you, but I know at least half of them would understand." Frisk was standing above her, a faint red sword leaning against her shoulder. There was a small grin on her face, her eyes lit red, despite normally being brown.

"How long have you been there?!" Harmony squealed, jumping. Flowey popped back into the ground.

"Long enough to know you've been struggling." She sat on the side where Flowey had been, "I see Chara's been quite the help, I couldn't have done much better if I'm being honest." She admitted. Chara shrugged, his face a little more blank,

"Well, it is true I would've done better convincing her than you. If you would've been in my position, she would've listened to the talking flower." Chara seemed smug. Frisk just laughed.

"Anyways... I know there's more to you than meets the eye, Harmony." She continued, not in anyway angry, "It's really up to you whether or not if you tell someone. You're... worried. Scared. You just want acceptance..."

"I guess I'm an open book then, too..." She mumbled, pulling her knees up to her chest, "But... what if what they see is what Flowey said. What if I am a freak... what if I do deserve whatever they throw at me...?"

"Well, would you rather risk knowing they think that for a few days rather than telling them years later when it'll destroy their trust of you?" Frisk questioned, placing a hand on her shoulder, "I know what you're going through... you don't want to lose them... just like me with my parents..." Her eyes glimmered and turned back to brown. Her sword disappeared.

"You... you lost your parents? Like..."

"They're gone... passed on... only one who knows that besides you is Chara. They were the best parents I could ask for, heh..." She smiled at her, "It's... a story for later. I'll tell all of you."

"But... What is it? What do you have to tell?" Chara asked, hovering a few inches above the ground.

"I... can see visions... or parts of something going on in present day. Like... I could tell Ivan was struggling and he was going to die... I had a vision of my own death... in a different timeline? I... can't remember."

"...if I'm being honest, you six messed with the code. In the other timelines, you're all dead. Sometimes it's not even you guys, but just others with the same personalities. It sounds fake, but... I'm really just trying to get the perfect ending."

"I... can't believe it..." Harmony was speechless.

"You've gotten the perfect ending sixty times." Chara growled, "And yet you continue to come back for all the monsters to suffer and for my life to run its same course."

"It's not the ending I'm going for. But this time... this time is different. This time... I believe it's possible to get it. Hopefully..." She murmured, glancing at the others. They were still sleeping.

"What... what's with the sword, anyways? The one you had a few minutes ago?" Harmony inquired, changing the subject. She didn't really know what to say to Frisk because she was in disbelief.

"My sword? Oh, well, you see, it's just a matter of focus and determination. Losing that focus is when it disappears, or when I decide I don't want it... or if I've lost my determination... which is unlikely. But... it takes a little bit of time to unlock it. I think it may be possible for anyone, but..." Her voice trailed off and she shifted a little.

"But what?"

"I've never seen anyone else do it." She explained carefully, "so... maybe it isn't."

It was awkward silence for a little, but finally a familiar yawn filled the air. Ethan groggily opened his eyes, blinking a few times in attempts to readjust his eyesight.

"Hey, Frisk, Harmony. What we talking about?" He slid next to Harmony, causing Chara to move out of the way and go onto Frisk's side instead.

"Oh... nothing." Harmony responded as quickly as she could. Ethan raised an eyebrow,

"You don't have to lie to me. I'm your best friend. I'll understand anything you have to say." He convinced.

"It's a girl thing. You know, makeup, beauty-" Frisk started when he stuck out his tongue and cut her off,

"Ew! You can stop right there! Makeup won't impress anyone. Just makes you look like a clown, unless it doesn't affect your visual appearance."

"Maybe it'll impress you when you're older and married." Frisk replied, grinning mischievously.

"EW kissing!" Ethan stuck out his tongue again, "I'm only thirteen, that stuff is STUPID. Girls still have cooties!"

"Anddddddd I wonder why no one takes you seriously." Frisk shook her head with a sigh.

"I'm just joking. Girls having cooties was so last year. But I still don't care to marry anyone, I've got a lot of time to think about that." He reassured. At least he was a little more mature...?

"Ah, boys. Never get anymore mature." Frisk whispered to Harmony. She just laughed slightly. Her eyes were still flickering between blue and gray every once in a while, but it was more mild and slower, reducing and reducing as time went on.

"I wonder why you get so scared, Harmony." Ethan pondered out loud, "I already made an oath to protect you, and I'm not gonna break it. It's the best friend code!"

"The... best... friend... code?"

"Yeah! It's top secret. I would let you take it, but then it wouldn't be a secret, you know?"

"I guess..."

"Even if so... can you stop being so worried? Everything will be fine. I know it'll be fine. I promise." He smiled at her sincerely. It was weird to her; it wasn't a usual goofy or silly smile. It was just... one to let her know he cared about her. She eased up a little,

"I'll try to be less scared, okay?"

"That's what I like to hear!" He slung his arm around her, "When the others stop being lazy, we'll get home! No time!"

"If I'm being honest, I really don't want to leave the Underground yet. You're ready to leave the monsters?" Harmony tried. Maybe it was best if they could stay alive. They could live with the Skelebros, or Toriel or something. Then even if they were stuck Underground, they were together...

"I... the others, Harmony. And... you! Need to get to the surface. Can't just give it up... because you want to spend time with them. How 'bout this. We save the monsters too! Humans can learn to live in peace with them if we show they aren't a threat to our society, right?" He tried, proud of his idea.

"I... suppose so." She sighed.

"Don't you... want to go home?!"

"I do...! But... Asgore..." Her voice fell a little. The image of Ethan's death lingered in her mind. She looked away from him.

"Asgore's going to have to get killed. Simple as that. And with me, there's no way we can lose that fight!" He reassured, pointing at himself pridefully. His hair was really messy and scruffy.

"...what if he kills you first?" Harmony prompted in return, uncertain.

"Then... I make sure you get home. I won't die without a fight, and neither will the rest of us." He promised, nodding to himself as if that was what he wanted, "It doesn't matter if I make it. It just matters if you and the others do, Harm." He assured confidently, looking at the path ahead, "You'll get back to Josh. I promise."

But even Harmony knew that, deep down, she would never see her family or the light of day again...

* * *

Earlier that day... or night, or whatever. Just before that whole drama.

* * *

 **.:EMILY:.**

When Emily woke up, she rubbed her eyes slowly. She yawned, stretching. The only other people awake were Tessa and Ivan. Ivan was busy with his nose buried in his notebook and Tessa was texting stuff to his phone every once in a while. Emily opened a group chat on the Undernet and sent a message to them, too tired to speak.

* * *

* _Pinkbubblegum2000 created a new chat_

 _*Pinkbubblegum2000 added whyamihere3 to the chat_

 _*Pinkbubblegum2000 added AManOfScience1123 to the chat_

 _Pinkbubblegum2000: Hi, you two._

 _whyamihere3: Hey, Em! You're awake...?_

 _AManOfScience1123: Emily, What are you doing up?_

 _Pinkbubblegum2000: that's what I wanted to ask you two_

 _AManOfScience1123: I couldn't rest. My mind was too active. So I started writing in my notebook to pass time._

 _whyamihere3: couldn't sleep either. Been thinking about the surface_

 _Pinkbubblegum2000: Finally in homestretch, huh? We're so close to home, I can almost feel it._

 _whyamihere3: I don't want to go home... I'll just be stuck with my mom again._

 _AManOfScience1123: I want to see my parents again... but honestly, I have no other reason to be back up there._

 _Pinkbubblegum2000: I want to see my mom again... I want to get up there. And Tessa, it'll be okay. We'll help you find a way to stay in custody of only your father._

 _AManOfScience1123: You're right... I do need to get up there. For my parents' sake. For Erin's. And Tessa, you can count on us to assist you with that._

 _whyamihere3: Ivan... I don't want to get too deep, but can you tell me what Erin was like? I didn't know her from anything other than what I had learned about her from you every once in a while._

 _AManOfScience1123: Well... I'll tell you about her more. Erin was born on July 30th, 6 years before Aiden. She had tan skin, she was a brunette, and she had pretty blue eyes. The thing about her was... she always knew what to say to make you feel better. It was like she could understand others better than they could understand themselves. She was courageous, amazing, and the best sister I could ever ask for. Our age gap never kept us apart. If it weren't for her homework, we would've spent every second together, I guarantee it. When we were younger, she was the one who encouraged me to pursue my passion in science. I... think she knew more about me then anyone else. I still can't believe she's gone._

 _Pinkbubblegum2000: aw... Ivan..._

 _whyamihere3: Okay, this definitely got deep. That's my bad._

 _Pinkbubblegum2000: Maybe it's for the best, you know? I'm not meaning to be pessimistic, but if one of us does die it could be best to know these things about each other._

 _AManOfScience1123: I guess that's true._

 _Pinkbubblegum2000: I wish the others were awake! It would be so much fun to just sit and talk here for a bit._

 _AManOfScience1123: Agreed._

 _whyamihere3: That would be nice._

 _Pinkbubblegum2000: But I'm guessing we're awake at like the standard of 2 AM, so we should really let them sleep._

 _whyamihere3: are you guys scared about the Asgore fight?_

 _Pinkbubblegum2000: I don't want to hurt someone. So yes..._

 _AManOfScience1123: Not necessarily. I'm trying to stray away from thinking of the possibilities of death._

 _whyamihere3: I really wish we could go back to Toriel's... I don't want to fight Asgore anymore..._

 _AManOfScience1123: Tessa. We have to try. We have to. You know we can't stay down here forever... if we don't act first, Asgore will._

 _Pinkbubblegum2000: It doesn't seem all that nice to murder someone..._

 _AManOfScience1123: It's him or you. And I am not letting you die._

 _whyamihere3: You know... monsters... they're just understood, I think. The history books made them out to be these big bad monsters when in reality... they just want to get home like us. To the surface..._

 _AManOfScience1123: When we get to the surface, I'll find a way to break the barrier. Then they'll be free too. That's what you guys want, right?_

 _Pinkbubblegum2000: That's what I want to see -everyone in peace._

 _whyamihere3: I'd like that._

 _AManOfScience1123: Then it's settled. I... think we should get to sleep. If we're tired while they're awake, we'll only have to wait longer._

 _whyamihere3: Well... night, guys._

 _AManOfScience: See you in the morning._

 _Pinkbubblegum2000: See you in the morning._

* * *

Emily looked up from her phone and over at Ivan. His eyes glinted, determined,

"I promise you it'll happen..." He mouthed over Aiden's snoring. Emily grinned at him, nodded, and slowly fell back asleep, preparing for the day to come.

* * *

 **Filler chapters are fun. I shouldn't have had as much fun with this as I did XD. Anyways, this was because I'm going to drag the story out longer. So expanding upon plotlines = more chapters. Poor Harmony. She's so much like me :LLLLLL**

 ** _Um... please drop a review if you want. Or don't. See you next time though!_**


	28. Spider Dance

**This chapter was delayed and I absolutely had no motivation to write it. It sucks, but I really don't want to rewrite it...**

 **You can guess the next chapter will be Ivan's backstory chapter (explained) and the following one will be following him.**

 **Um... I really wasn't sure who to put for this chapter? It was a close one between Ivan and Aiden, but ultimately I think Aiden hasn't gotten enough attention lately. I was also considering Ethan, but I thought nah because he gets too much of the spotlight anyways. Please enjoy this chapter (or... don't?)**

 **CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO**

 **.:AIDEN:.**

Finally, they were back on the road.

Aiden had been asleep the longest despite never having woken up once throughout his sleep and going to bed the earliest. He was a big doof, combing his fingers through his shaggy dark blonde hair. They had just gotten out of the elevator and were walking down the path when they stopped at a monster's bake sale.

"Welcome to our parlor, dearies~" she greeted with a smile, "Interested in buying some pastries? All proceeds go to real spiders~"

"EW, SPIDERS!" Ethan cringed, sticking out his tongue. Harmony elbowed him with a scowl. The spider monster seemed offended. Aiden shot daggers at him.

"Spiderhater..." she hissed quietly, but directed her attention to the other humans, "It's only 9999G a donut!"

"What! That's way too overpriced!" Aiden scoffed.

"But I want a donutttttttttttt." Ethan whined. Harmony shook her head, folding her arms. At least that was going back to normal with her. She was going back to being a little stricter on Ethan. And if Ethan was being honest, he missed the attention.

"..." Ivan looked unamused and didn't care to speak, just eyeing the donuts suspiciously.

"I bet they're good...?" Emily tried to suggest.

Aiden shook his head, "No thanks, m'am."

"Suit yourself, dearies..." She shrugged as they walked off, "Suit. Yourself."

Spiders crawled around in the web. Ethan sped up a bit while Aiden just glared at them as if they were disgusting (Not that they weren't).

Frisk hummed to herself, not feeling it was her place to say that they needed more donuts. She guessed they wouldn't have enough cash to get them all one anyways. Chara whistled as they passed the web, not that they noticed anyways.

"Hi, Alphys here!" The group stopped at the next puzzle as she continued, "This room is like the one we did before- there's a puzzle north to solve and one south. A-Also... I'd like to say... I don't... really like... giving... away puzzle solutions... If you need help, just call, Okay?" Aiden could tell she was grinning through the phone.

"Yeah, that sounds good." He shrugged.

"O-Oh, Wait! I have an idea! Let's be friends on the UnderNet!"

"What. Wait a moment. We are friends on the UnderNet." Ethan blinked, now confused, "Like. I'm h0tman225." He explained. Emily started laughing, amused at hearing the name out loud for the first time. Harmony snickered. Ethan glared.

"Yeah, and I'm whyamihere3." Tessa said in a very unenthusiastic tone. Probably exactly as you'd read it.

"Wait, that was you guys...?!" She blushed, embarrassed.

"Wait. How did you not know?! We even called each other by our first names!" Aiden exclaimed, twirling his gun around his finger.

"Plotholessssss." The author swung from the ceiling before disappearing again.

Harmony just fingergunned, purposefully out of character, "Ayyyyy."

"You... you've been reading my posts the whole time?! Well, you better agree with me on Mew Mew Kitty 2!" There was a click and the call disconnected.

"Who was that?" Emily questioned out of curiosity, looking up at the ceiling.

"I dunno, probably the author of this cringy fanfic." Ethan replied simply.

"Fourth wall breaking is a yay." Ivan slightly smiled.

"Anywaysssss. We have to get through the puzzle I'm guessing. This will take a while."

A few fails later...

"Hey, I'm north now!" Aiden announced, his eyes gleaming at the others, "I'll go on ahead!"

"You can't solve puzzles by yourself, going out there on your own is dangerous!" Tessa protested, folding her arms a little, her voice still quiet despite trying to be stern , "Just be patient. I'll be there in a minute."

"Welp. You're taking too long. Be back soon." He tipped his hat, walking down the trail.

"I'm south guys, I can help you get here if you want-" Emily tried to suggest when Ivan interrupted,

"Just go. Aiden already has." He sighed, "We'll be waiting for when you're done. Call us if you need to."

Emily nodded, walking south. She wondered if the puzzle would be harder than the others. She was good at puzzles, but Ivan was certainly better. But surely it couldn't be that hard? If it took a long time, they would come for her, right? Or would they just wait forever? It stuck in the back of her mind, but she seemed to be okay with trying before launching into a panic.

* * *

Aiden, however, was fidgeting with the control panel, a puzzled look on his face, "It's not working!" He exclaimed, no one hearing it but himself. He just kept trying to solve it.

He twisted around his hat, dipping it down a little, "What the heck?! This doesn't even make any logical sense!" He seemed pissed.

"Ivan, how do I solve this." Aiden questioned, putting the phone to his ear.

"What am I supposed to know?! I don't even know what it looks like! I'll just come to solve it myself-"

"I'll go do it..." Tessa spoke quietly, mumbling, "No offense, but he's not gonna listen to you... at least I got a little chance..."

"I HEARD THAT!" Aiden yelled through the phone.

"Well, it's true." She cautiously stepped onto the jump pad.

Harmony just sighed. Ethan was being Ethan on the ground and complaining about how hot it was. Frisk watched them and closed her eyes. Ivan put away his phone and began writing in his notebook as he stared at Frisk in turn. He still thought something was off about her. And Harmony was suddenly okay and back to her usual self, which he didn't consider bad, but it didn't settle right with him. Something was up...

* * *

Emily walked onto the conveyor belt. She flinched at the sight of lasers. What did blue mean again?!

Her HP dropped.

 _Stay still?_ She thought, walking against the conveyor belt. It worked! She grinned, doing the same thing a few more times before she got to the puzzle itself.

"Alright, I'm here." Tessa muttered, behind Aiden with her toy knife.

"Oh, you didn't need to do that." He explained, pointing at the panel. It had three rounds in it.

"You shot the control panel?" Tessa looked both shocked and overall impressed, "and it _worked_?!"

"Yeah. I needed to serve some justice."

"But... that's not... whatever..." She shrugged, deciding it would be best to not argue about something that simple.

"Anyways, we should get back to the others." He put his gun back in its holster, his eyes glimmering at her with interest, "Still surprised you volunteered to come instead of Ivan."

"Ivan needed to keep the others in line. You know how Ethan is."

"What about Frisk?" He suggested, raising an eyebrow, "Or Harmony?"

"Let's just go." She grumbled quickly, turning around and walking back down the path.

"Uh huh." When she turned around, he silently cheered. What an oof.

* * *

Emily cleared the puzzle, although she had arrived later than Aiden did to his. She got onto the conveyor belt and began back on her way to meet up with the others.

Ivan waved when Emily got back. Ethan got to his feet and complained about his back being broken or something stupid. Harmony shook her head again. Frisk gave her a fingergun. A minute or so later, Tessa and Aiden came back too. And the whole cycle repeated.

* * *

"So, you guys ready to carry on?" Ivan questioned, looking at the three of them before adding, "If you need to take a break, you can-"

"No, I think we'll all be good baby bro." Aiden couldn't help but wink as Ivan seemed embarrassed.

"Aiden, please stop referring to me as that." He mumbled, turning around and began walking to the door ahead. Ethan bolted after him. Harmony squeaked, as if she thought this was a bad idea, and scrambled after them. Frisk's eyes glimmered a shade of red as she followed. Aiden spun his hat around before speeding after them. Emily looked over at Tessa, grinned, and then calmly followed, happy. Tessa stared as the door opened and decided to catch up to the others.

Frisk tapped on a save point. Now Ivan was really puzzled.

"What are you doing?" He asked, perplexed.

Frisk looked over at him, "I'm studying this star." She pointed to it. It wasn't visible to Ivan, though.

Ivan blinked a few times and tried to see it, even tried to touch it, "But... this... is not probable. Is this a joke...?"

"It's a long story. Not a joke. Must you really desire to know, I'll tell you later."

Chara's creepy smile made him shiver a little. Ivan just nodded and turned back around.

 _She's up to something._

* * *

" _Ahuhuhuhu_."

Harmony jumped. They were foot deep in cobwebs.

" _Did you hear what they just said?"_

Aiden flipped around his gun. The spiders were being squashed by their feet.

" _They said seven humans would come through_."

Emily shuddered and searched for the voice. Ivan glanced over and then looked around himself.

 _"I heard that they hate spiders."_

"WELL, YEAH, THEY'RE DISGUSTING!" Ethan crushed a few with his sneaker.

 _"I heard that they're disrespectful."_

Tessa shook her head and stopped walking. Ethan looked extremely offended.

" _They love to stomp on them."_

Frisk's eyes glimmered darkly.

 _"I heard they like to tear their legs off."_

Aiden was in cobwebs up to his waist.

" _I heard that..."_

It brightened up in the room a bit. Spiders were dangling by their strings. Ethan actually looked nervous.

"-they're stingy with their money."

Aiden held up his gun and pointed it at her, "Shut it."

"Your taste is too refined for our pastries, don't you, dearies?!" She hissed, "I disagree with that notion. I think... your taste... is exactly what this next batch needs."

Spiders surrounded them. Ethan nearly shrieked. Harmony looked disheartened as she struggled to move.

"Alright, y'all... we've got one donut... I'm sure she'll let one of us go..." Aiden glanced at them carefully.

"It should be Ethan. He's terrified of spiders!" Emily insisted. Frisk nodded.

"No... I would be a coward to leave..." Ethan's expression was dark. His eyes were glowing, "Fear... is another reason to try harder. It can control your bravery... but I... I won't let it control me. I won't leave. Never. Not because of fear. I'm not going to be like that. If you want to get over a fear, you've gotta face it head on! So that's exactly what I'm going to do..." The seven souls were thrown into battle. Ethan didn't seem to be messing around.

"Don't look so blue..." Muffet poured out her teacups. A mist flooded out. It turned all of their souls purple, "Purple is a much better color on you~"

Harmony tried breaking out of the webs. A few of the connecting strings snapped. Aiden shot at the cobwebs before putting his gun away. He was a bit more free.

Ivan watched the spider monster, a little queasy. He pressed the ACT button and paid 10G. Muffet's ATTACK dropped!

Muffet sent more spiders. They cling to their souls and chipped away at their health.

"The only way to get them off will be to win this battle..." Ethan's HP dropped, "Or we'll all be dead."

"Your SOULS will be great for my spiders!" She smirked, sending more as an attack. Aiden was even deeper in webs. But he just kept trying to get rid of them. Frisk pulled out the donut carefully. She held it up a little for Muffet to see.

"You must've stolen it!" She narrowed her eyes, the spiders taking it out of her hand, "Thieves don't get respect, dearie."

 _But... the other timelines..._ Frisk flinched. Chara darkened and took control of her.

"But she bought it!" Harmony protested.

"Hm. I suppose you all haven't met my pet yet~"

A giant creature popped out of the ground. It had fangs and long legs (watch the Muffet fight and you'll get it) and looked unhappy. Ethan, disdainful, punched it. It cowered back a bit, shrinking into the ground.

"You can't kill it Ethan. Remember that." Aiden reminded with a swift glare.

Ethan didn't reply.

"The person who warned us about you..." she sent more spiders. Aiden broke free of the webs. Chara did as well. Tessa appeared uneasy, knowing it was no longer Frisk.

"Offered a LOT of money for your souls..." She continued, her six eyes narrowing to thin slits. Ethan spared, blazing.

"They had such a sweet smile, and- ahuhuhu... it even seemed as if they changed shape in the shadows...?"

Emily bit into a crab apple. Tessa tried cutting through the webs with her toy knife clutched close.

"I nearly forgot. It's lunchtime for my pet~" It pounced up in front of Chara. Chara's eyes dimmed as he flipped out the stick Frisk had and dragged it across her pet's face. It screeched in reply and slithered back into the ground.

"With all that money, the spider clans can be reunited-"

"Clans of spiders? Don't y'all see each other all the time." Aiden rolled his shoulders back. His HP was at 3. He didn't seem worried, despite this.

"You've never heard? Spiders have been trapped in the RUINS for generations! Even if they could crawl under the door, they'd never get through the fatal cold of Snowdin. It's impassable." Aiden's HP dropped again.

Tessa squealed, "Eat something!"

But he didn't have anything. Emily did. And there was no way she'd get it to him. He was as good as dead.

"But with the money from your SOULS, we'll be able to get a heated limo... and with the extras, maybe go on a little vacation..." Aiden's HP was at 1. He could feel that Ivan was losing it as well as Tessa.

"Enough if that. Time for dinner-" The monster pet popped up behind Harmony. She screamed. Like, full on screamed. Emily whacked it with her frying pan.

"Sorry... just... don't scare people like that..." Emily felt a little guilty for hitting the monster. Chara's hair covered his face (although it was really Frisk's hair).

"It's dessert time, my pet-"

She stopped, along with the rest of the spiders as one of the spiders held up a note.

"What's this? A telegram from the spiders in the RUINS? They say... they saw you, and you didn't kill any spiders. The spider hater even bought a donut."

"And when my inventory got full, I gave it to Frisk, and then she tried to show that she had it right now, and you thought she stole it!" Ethan tried finishing.

"Oh, this is all a big misunderstanding. I thought you were someone that hated spiders. The person asking for your SOULS must've meant a DIFFERENT group of seven humans."

"Totally." Aiden gave a crooked smile. Ethan just blinked.

"Well, sorry for causing so much trouble. To make it up to you, you can come here anytime... and I'll even wrap you up and let you play with my pet-"

The girls and Ethan shivered.

"Just kidding... ahuhuhu... I'll spare you now." The spiders crawled off of their souls and from around them and disappeared. Emily pressed spare. Chara slowly got out of Frisk's body. She shook her head.

"Ahuhuhu. That was fun. See you again, dearies-" She blew a kiss before disappearing.

"Aiden!" Ivan slid over. Aiden looked beat up, but it was nothing he couldn't handle, "Are you okay?!"

"I'm fine... really need a few of those apples on hand, Em..." He muttered, rubbing one of the bruises that had formed when his soul got progressively more damaged.

"I'll give you some. And here, I'll give you one right now-" She held it out. He took a quick bite and then grinned, "Sour."

"Frisk, What was that?" Tessa turned to the girl.

"It was me." Chara answered for her, "Frisk was in need of help, and there's no one more suited for the job than me."

"Or anyone else who could help me." She added.

"Ughhhh Friskkkkk."

"Onward...?" Harmony asked awkwardly.

"Onward." Aiden nodded, letting Ethan lead the way. They were one step closer.

* * *

 **I HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HE _HATE_ how I wrote this chapter. It's messy as heck and I'll probably revise it in the future. I'm so sorry... :/**

 **QOTD: Who is your least favorite character and why?**

Don't worry, what you say won't offend me unless it's serious bashing


	29. FILE 5: LOADING

**Ethan: Hey guys, fanfiction was being a pain in the butt when the author was trying to upload this. And she got really angry or whatever. So I guess I'm here to fill in-**

 **Me: No. Are you even in this chapter?**

 **Ethan: I get a mention, so I think it qualifies.**

 **Me: No, get out of this chapter and come back for the next one.**

 **Ethan: ... *yeets***

 **Me: Heya.** **Ivan for you all I guess. This is a really short chapter by the way. Hope you like it because FFN was almost causing me to not post it today. Also probably because the weather is trash. Anyways! Enjoy!**

Hello. My name is Ivan. Your average twelve-year-old, I guess. My hair is black, skin is paler than a ghost, and eyes are the weirdest color you'll ever hear about- purple. This is just you know... in my notebook on a few billion pages. So hi, whoever you are, may you be Aiden or Emily, Tessa or Frisk, Ethan somehow, Harmony too? Well, whatever. Here's my story to keep you entertained.

I was born at 4:03 AM on July 5th, 200X. I was a month premature, but I survived, as you can observe.

My parents were good and caring people, and I, of course, loved them, but I didn't establish as much of a bond with them as I did my two siblings.

First was Erin; she was my oldest sister, almost ten years older than me, but we could not have been closer. It was something you never really saw, or, at least, something I never saw. She taught me how to write and read at a very young age. Her eyes were hazel and she had dark brown hair. She always was lanky and tall, she always did tower over me. She became my role model and I desperately wanted to follow in her footsteps of being a scientist. She never was afraid to express herself and always kept going. That was what I loved about her.

Aiden was my older brother. He was two and a half years older than me and- when I say reckless, I mean it. He always did stupid things and took stupid videos of Erin and me and him doing "cool stunts." He wore a cowboy hat, boots, had dirty blonde hair and yellow eyes. For a very long time, I wasn't connected to him as much as I was Erin. He was devoted to serving justice- Erin even bought him a gun when he turned ten. My question is, was that really a wise choice? But I don't ask questions anymore.

That was just how most of my childhood was. Do things with my siblings, go to school, sleep. You know, what I believe you would all consider normal (if you had siblings).

But my life wasn't "normal" as life went on. My childhood was ruined. Why? Simple. It was because when I was eight, Erin was diagnosed with cancer.

It was like a slap across the face. I built a wall around myself while Aiden tried to seek comfort and try to comfort me. But I wouldn't let him. I rarely wanted to leave the house, and when I did I refused to talk to anyone except Erin. She was in the hospital a numerous amount of times, getting tests ran on her and getting chemotherapy.

I just don't understand. I really don't. I can only imagine what it must've been like for the doctors who thought she was better. She was doing better. Everything was fine. It looked like it would be okay and it certainly was not. Aiden entered the room to talk to her. And that's when I heard the final heartbeat of my dead sister. I snapped my head over to see my brother pleading for her to come back. That's when the doctors came over. They tried to calm him down, but his anger raged on. Once he left the room, he left the hospital with only me to follow him. He bolted for the park. At this point, I couldn't keep up with him, bringing myself to a sudden stop as reality sank in.

The last thing she said to me was, "I'll talk to you tomorrow, Ivan." And I walked out and expected for what she said to happen.

She was gone. Dead. Swept away in the dark. And I just had to sit around and be okay with it. It was like they wanted me to move on from her! My best friend! Sure, she was off at college for a month or so before her cancer struck, but she was there for me and came home...

I didn't get much sleep that night. Or any of the nights to come. Just stared at the ceiling. I became hostile, snappy, and I took my rage out on one person- my brother.

It was never Aiden's fault that she was gone; but I made him feel that way to convince myself that it wasn't just a disease that took her away.

One day, we got into an argument. Unfortunately for me, he won. So I ran off and to the park. That was when I met Emily. I didn't want to speak, but I asked if I could sit next to her. She replied in a soft voice as I gave my thanks. Moments of silence passed as the weather shifted from sunny to rainy. It was a slow drizzle. I wasn't completely calm when I spoke, but we did talk. It was long. So long that when I got home my brother suffocated me in a hug.

I wish I could say things got better for me from there and I found a way to move on. But it didn't. No. It got worse. All I felt was pain. All I could remember feeling was pain. So I set out to stop making myself fake happy.

That's when the biggest mistake I had ever made came into play.

Well, turns out, when your sister is a scientist, she's got all sorts of chemicals that can cause all kinds of reactions. And since she wasn't allowed to tell me off...

I shut the door to her room behind me, flicking on the lights. I stared at her desk and I calmly stepped over. There were a bunch of notes pinned everywhere, one of the notes on her science kit. Don't let Ivan or Aiden touch this. It read. But I knew it was something I could handle- I was determined to get rid of my pain. The world would be better that way, right?

As I experimented, I wrote more and more down into my lavender notebook (which Erin had given to me before she... died). My parents were grocery shopping with Aiden. No one could stop me from what I was doing, not even myself.

Diiiiiiing!

Wait. That's the doorbell. I thought to myself, hoping it wasn't my family home. Nope, it was Emily.

"Hey, Ivan, Tessa and I were going to go ice skating, want to come? And maybe Aiden too?" She grinned at me. Tessa poked out her head from behind her.

"Aiden's our grocery shopping- and I would absolutely love to go ice skating, but I'm so behind on all of my homework, I'll have to go another time." I lied, saying the first thing that came to mind.

"Alrighty! Well, see you tomorrow at school!" I knew she was suspicious of my excuse, but she didn't question it, and for the time being, that was all I cared about.

I stepped back up to Erin's room when she was out of sight. And I... continued. Until I made it. The serum.

I don't know why I decided to use it. I should've at least tested it on something else, like a hamster or a dog... but that would be animal cruelty, so I didn't. I stabbed my arm with the syringe and injected a small dosage into it.

I kept the rest on me as I put away the kit. If I needed more, I'd use more.

The first day, things had barely changed, but I knew it was getting better. The second day was the same. I inserted more into my arm. That made everything worse. Much, much worse.

The third day, everything was great. I barely felt any pain from it. The fourth day, it was gone entirely. That was probably my best day yet. I even made time to hang out with Emily, Tessa, and Aiden. If everyday would be like that, I never would've wanted it to change.

The fifth day... I wasn't the same. I detected something was strange. But I didn't think much of it. Five days passed. The next day- well, on the last day, it was done. I perceived no pain, and along with it, no emotions.

Days passed. Then months. The months turned into years. Almost three years without knowing what feeling was.

I fell down Mt. Ebott days ago. Or at least, it seems like it's been days. I don't know what the concept of time is here in comparison to there anymore. Maybe it's been weeks. Months. Or maybe... years.

I have discovered much about monsters while we were down here; this includes the magic they possess. Some monsters can summon fireballs, some can use magic to do just about anything you could think of.

The range of monsters is enormous as well; from goats, to dinosaurs, to fish, to skeletons- the possibilities are endless. But during this time, I should've been focusing on my friends and helping them, not myself.

It was not until outside the lab that my brother and Emily had admitted to reading through my notebook. After I argued and tried to keep my argument up, I told them about my cracking soul. Harmony made a point about it being on me. She was right, really. But I know she knows more than she claims. I know there's something off about her... something she won't tell us about... but back to the topic, I tried to get better. That's when my soul cracked further. And I started glitching. Imagine your face getting torn off and your heart getting ripped from your chest. That's pretty much what my breaking soul made me feel like. I could see Emily begin to cry. Harmony was clinging to Ethan as she sobbed uncontrollably. Frisk was silent, as if she wouldn't cry, but would respect me if my death happened. Tessa sniffled. I even saw tears forming in Aiden's now gentle eyes. I knew I would die; I knew it was over. Maybe I was dead for a second. But I was back. Fine. Okay.

It was Aiden. It had to be something to do with Aiden. But even I didn't have an exact explanation as to why I was okay. So I'm assuming it was a sibling bond or something you see in all those TV shows. Now, I'm trying to remember what emotions are. I bet that soon enough I'll understand it even better. And I know Erin would be proud of where I am now. I'll see her again someday, honestly. Sometimes, I wonder what would've happened if Erin never did die. Where would I be right now? And Aiden? Our relationship still would be a mess all over the place. While I'll never say I'm glad Erin's death had an impact on me, it changed me and Aiden for the better.

This must all sound like some sort of lie, or that I'm not telling you the truth; but it's all reality. All of this takes me to now; as the others have been asleep, I have decided to write a lengthy explanation of my journey down. Who knows who will read this first. So, whoever you are, my only question to you is this:

How the hell did you get a hold of my notebook?


	30. Mettaton's Musical- DRAMA INTENSIFIES?

**Heya, most of this chapter is a joke and then it's more serious. Also, Wednesday is the last day of school for me! Summer is coming! Woohoo! Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

 **CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE**

 **.:IVAN:.**

As the group continued down the hall, Ivan skimmed through the poster on the wall. It was a tragedy of two crossed lovers or something interesting like that. Seemed like the performance was starting soon, he gathered, looking to see that no one was waiting for him. Swiftly, he speed walked and caught up with them.

"You've got to be kidding me." Aiden sighed as he stopped, causing everyone else to. At the top of a staircase, Mettaton was wearing a blue dress.

Ethan started laughing, "How is this not on social media yet, or going viral at the least!" He started dying of laughter when Mettaton began to sing.

"Hmm? Those humans? Is one of them... my true love?" He whispered dramatically. Aiden rolled his eyes, facepalming. Tessa hid behind him, kinda not knowing what to do (or to volunteer him as Mettaton's true love if the robot approached). Ethan just kept snickering and howling with laughter. He was enjoying this way too much. Harmony blinked, instinctively backing up and pushing Ethan forward as defense. But what could he do? He wasn't even standing up anymore! Emily nodded along, happy. Ivan raised both eyebrows.

Frisk grinned and hummed, volunteering herself. Chara's eyebrows flew off his face. She fingergunned Mettaton as he stepped over, or rather wheeled over to the group. Still, his poem song musical number was directed at anyone who wanted to volunteer.

"Oh my love... please run away!"

"That's awfully cowardly." Ethan used Harmony to pull himself up from the ground.

"Monster King forbids your stay!"

"I'll just show him some justice then." Aiden cocked his gun, intimidating.

"Humans must... live far apart."

"Yeah, far apart from you." Chara mumbled, his arms folded. Of course, only the other humans could hear and see him.

"Even if... it breaks my heart."

"You don't look sad." Harmony couldn't help but counter.

"They'll put you... in the dungeon!" Flower petals began floating down out of nowhere.

"That's not very nice..." Emily frowned as he rolled past her.

"It'll suck. And then you'll die a lot."

Ivan pushed up his glasses, "How does one die multiple times?"

"Really sad... we're gonna die." Frisk joined in as she casually danced on her tiptoes.

"Blunt there, aren't we?" Aiden folded his arms as Mettaton wheeled around him. Chara's face was like o.0.

"Cry cry cry. So sad it's happening." Mettaton patted Frisk's head, pleased that she had joined in, "So sad you're going to the dungeon. Toodles!"

"Wait. What are you-" Before Ivan could finish, the ground gave way beneath them to reveal a trapdoor. All eight of them fell down (including Chara, but technically he was dragged down because he has to be in range with Frisk XD) and hit the ground with an oof. Wait. How many times is that in this fanfic? Like, five? They always fall with an oof, Yes.

"Harmony, I think you broke one of my ribs..." Ethan groaned, slamming his face into the ground.

"Sorry..." She stood back up on her feet, trying to regain her balance.

"We dropped like three feet, what are you even complaining about?" Ivan complained about.

"One of my friends sprained their arm when they fell of their bunk bed!" He protested, arguing, "So it's possible!"

"That was up higher!" Ivan squabbled.

"They fell off the bottom bunk..."

"That's just sad..." Aiden shook his head, "What a loser."

 **(A/N: Yeah, it's actually a true story-)**

"My love has been cast away in the dungeon!" Mettaton swooned, dramatizing every moment of this musical, "What shall I do?"

"Which one of us is your love...?" Emily asked politely, not getting a reply.

"Aren't we literally just in a different compartment of Hotland?" Ivan mused.

"You could help us maybe?" Aiden suggested bitterly, his patience running out.

"A dungeon with a puzzle so dastardly, my paramour will surely perish!"

None of them understood what he had just said. Not even Ivan. Ethan seemed unamused and not very excited.

"Oh, Heavens, have mercy! The terrible colored tile maze!"

Ethan stepped onto the conveyor belt, ignoring him. He didn't really like the robot.

"The red- MY OH MY! This beauty is already doing the puzzle! If he can remember the rules, you can too, darlings! Even if it was a hundred rooms ago! NOW WE DON'T NEED MORE FILLER DIALOGUE FOR THIS FANFIC! YOU BETTER HURRY UP, IF YOU DON'T GET THROUGH THIS PUZZLE IN THIRTY SECONDS, YOU'LL BE INCINERATED BY THESE JETS OF FIRE!"

"Wait, What?" Emily jumped, looking at them skeptically.

"My love, I grieve, but I cannot stop laughing!" Mettaton wiped an imaginary tear off of his face. Because robots can't cry, remember?

"You're such a sadistic." Harmony shook her head as she stepped on the conveyor belt to follow Ethan.

"Good luck, darling!" As they got onto the sadistic tiles, he was singing, "Oh my love, has fallen down! Now in tears, we will now drown..."

"This is so STUPID!" Ethan stomped his foot in frustration, "This is all just pixelated anyways, the author doesn't care if I just magically make it across."

I really don't.

"If you keep breaking the fourth wall, we'll have to do this scene all over again!" Emily pointed out as she tried to figure out where she was going.

Fine. Poof. The timer has zero seconds. You're now all gonna die!

"Nooooooooooooooooooo." The kids all cried, in hysterics. At this point, the author had gotten lazy. Yep. I'm too lazy to care.

"MY, MY, You've ran out of time! Here comes the flames, darlings!" The jets of fire were getting closer, "THEY'RE COMING CLOSER! MY OH MY, THEY'RE CLOSING IN! ANYYYYY MINUTE NOW!"

All of the kids stared at him as nothing happened.

"AHEM ALPHYS!" Mettaton coughed loudly.

"I-I'll save you! I'm hacking into the firewall right now!" Alphys announced through the phone.

"HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN? DIDDLY DARN I'VE BEEN FOILED ONCE AGAIN BY THE BRILLIANT DOCTOR ALPHYS!"

"That's right, Mettaton! Give up! You'll never be able to defeat us!"

"Unless... this is all an act to begin with." Ivan looked at Mettaton and then at the others, "What if this was the plan to begin with, what if-"

"DARLING THAT'S NOT IN THE SCRIPT!" Mettaton shushed him. Frisk gave a thumbs up when the fanfic was running how it was supposed to.

"A-Anyways... as long as we work together, you'll be defeated. So give up and go home..."

"Puzzle? Over? Alphys, darling, remember, the green tiles make a sound, and then you fight a monster. That monster... is me!" There was a click and all of their souls appeared.

Aiden, unfazed, pulled his gun out.

"I-I installed an app on your phone, it-"

"You've got an app for everything, don't you? Well, we'll figure it out ourselves!" Ivan hung up on her, pressing the ACT button and then "Yellow." His soul turned around and it was yellow. Poof. It shot a bullet at Mettaton. Aiden looked proud of his brother for shooting something, even if it wasn't with a gun.

"Oh no, I thought you weren't as strong, you've defeated me, etc. Later darlings!" He disappeared.

Everyone stared at Ivan. Emily put a hand on his shoulder a little sympathetically, "Next time... maybe just be nice to Alphys and use your words?"

"...she's a liar! She's cool as a person and an anime nerd like me, but she's lying about all of this puzzle stuff! She set us up for this, and you're all just okay with it?!"

"It is kind of fun..." Harmony mumbled, but when she felt Ivan glaring at her, she shrank.

"Hey! Anything Harmony thinks is fun _is_ fun!" Ethan crosses his arms as they looked at him, "Usually!"

"Bro... come on. It's okay. We're almost home anyways, she won't be able to use dumb puzzles to make us her friends..."

"We already should be friends..." Tessa muttered, not saying much. She was frowning, adjusting the red ribbon in her hair, "...puzzles can't make us friends."

"Besides. Puzzles suck." Ethan agreed. Harmony, instead of kicking him, hit him lightly in the shoulder as a signal that he wasn't helping the situation.

Ivan hated all the mystery going around, "And then _you_!" He exploded, pointing at Harmony, "There's something up with you, and I don't get why you're trying to act all innocent and like 'oh, I'm just a gentle and shy girl who does ballet and-'"

Ethan literally lunged at him, pinning him, "Don't you dare say anything against Harmony!" Aiden shoved Ethan off. Harmony stepped back. Emily was too shocked to speak.

Ethan growled as he got to his feet, "This is so... so... STUPID!" He decided to use instead of a bad word. Or rather the author made him decide to use. He ran off, fuming.

"Ethan, Wait!" Harmony ran after him, leaving the others in the dust.

"OMG I love drama." Frisk ate popcorn with Chara and the author.

The ninja nodded, popping a few pieces in her mouth, "IKR but I think Drama is the only reason people like this fanfic lol."

"Or is the part they like when you _don't_ have drama." Chara added, munching on the chocolate bar the author gave him.

"Fair point, Chara."

"Stop breaking the fourth wall!" Tessa reminded. The author disappeared along with the popcorn and chocolate. Chara complained, dragging out an "uggggggggghhhhhh."

"Ivan... are you okay?" Aiden asked, trying to confirm he wasn't going to explode.

"No. It's not like I need to talk to those two ever again anyways, it's not like I know them all that well!" He started speedwalking down the path. Aiden, like Harmony did with Ethan, ran after him.

Emily, Tessa, and Frisk exchanged glances. Emily and Tessa both frowned.

"Guys, we're all headed to the same place. We're all bound to meet up again at some point." Frisk explained quietly, "For now, let's just follow close behind them, okay?" The two girls nodded and they walked next to each other and up the path.

* * *

Ethan and Harmony walked up the steps. Ethan was still blowing off steam and Harmony was just there for emotional support. Harmony waved with a smile to Nice Cream guy as they walked up the steps, happy he had been able to sell all his ice cream.

The two walked into Mettaton's hotel. Instead of looking around or anything, Ethan took her arm and they walked into the CORE.

"W-What about the others!" Harmony stumbled over her words when trying to pull him back towards the hotel.

"They don't matter," He replied, his voice chilly, "They're all against us anyways. I didn't come down for them, I came down because you did." That part was so quiet, she didn't hear it. This wasn't good...

* * *

Ivan and Aiden went to the shady alleyway, mostly by Aiden's request. Ivan, of course, obliged. Bratty and Catty had a plethora of things up for sale, and Aiden mostly had his eyes on some bullets that he knew would fit his gun. Paying like 150G, he got fifty extra bullets. That would hold for the rest of this journey. Ivan watched him as they walked back to the hotel. That's where Tessa, Emily, Frisk, and Chara were, trying to rent a hotel room. Only one was available. They accepted, but when they saw Ivan and Aiden, they looked over at each other. But it was okay because the brothers said they'd sleep on the floor! So while the girls and Chara went to the hotel room, Aiden and Ivan decided to buy some food from Burgerpants. Both of them were pretty hungry, even though the author just kinda decided to make them hungry thirty chapters into the fanfic. They got a bunch of Glamburgers, Starfaits, and even enough for a few Mettaton face-shaped steaks.

* * *

"Ethan... I really don't like this... I think we should get the others..." Harmony shuddered when she saw the two figures.

"We'll be fine! Besides, both of us have full HP and I know how to punch!" He reassured, patting her back.

"Okay... I guess if that's what you think..." But she doubted his judgment... she really hated the feeling of someone watching her.

* * *

"So... after the CORE, we're home, guys..." Aiden smiled as he sat on the floor, eating his Glamburger.

"Finally..." Emily's eyes twinkled when she remembered that they would finally get home.

"I... can't help but think all of this is my fault..." Ivan's voice was shaking, "If I hasn't been so curious, I never would've tripped over that root and fallen down here... you guys wouldn't have had to come down either..."

"It's not your fault Ivan," Aiden tipped his hat, "I shouldn't have convinced Mom to let us go up there. If I hadn't, she wouldn't have let you in the first place."

"I guess... come to think of it, Harmony and Ethan only came down here to search for us, even if we weren't as close to them as us four are. And Frisk, of course, could probably get home without us." He nodded to her.

She shrugged and nodded, kinda like, "Yeah, that's true."

"I think I owe Ethan and Harmony an apology... for what I said."

"Speaking of which... what is this Harmony situation?" Aiden cocked his head to the side. Ivan looked around, as if to make sure Ethan wasn't around,

"I don't know. But I have a good feeling who does..." He looked past him and directly at Frisk.

"...well, I guess it's I tell you or you tie me up. So, what would you like to know?"

* * *

There was a laugh from in the CORE. Harmony dug her nails into Ethan's shoulder, frightened.

The silhouette became clearer to them, until- the monster sent an attack that knocked Ethan to the ground. They were in a terrible place, and Harmony feared it may have been the end of both of them...

* * *

 **oH nO cLiFfHaNgErS**

 **In my opinion, Ivan and Ethan's argument is Harmony's fault (or mine lol), because Ivan had a fair point and Ethan only attacked him because he cares. But wait, aUtHoRs dOn'T gEt oPiNiOnS. If I rewrite this, it'll get less cringy and have more of a plotline. Honestly, the amount of drama I make to keep this going is... excessive. But as long as you all don't hate it, that's good? I wouldn't blame you lol, but I promise this fanfic will end.**

 **Okay so random QOTD: Did Ivan go overboard when he exploded on everyone?**

 **Also, do you think it is a good idea for Ethan to know that Harmony knows all of this crap yet hasn't told him about it? Or do you think it's best for him to not know?**


	31. FILE 2: LOADING

**What a crappy title to this chapter lol.**

 **So... nothing really has been planned for this story. I can't say I've been busy, because I've been on summer break and most of the time I'm at home doing nothing and procrastinating everything. But I did always have this idea for Tessa, and she didn't get much of a backstory other than when she was younger, so what the heck. I'm sorry this is like 2 weeks delayed, but I hope you enjoy~**

 **WARNING: This Chapter gets more of a T rating by me, nothing extreme happens, but read at your own risk.**

 **Thanks for the reviews, almost to a hundred :0! I appreciate your support ❤️**

* * *

 _I wonder if it's still so hard to notice me now?_ Tessa thought unhappily, but sighed and decided they weren't worth it as she walked away to Aiden and Ivan's house. They were close by and only a twenty-thirty minute walk. She was wearing a teal striped shirt and skirt, which were both soaked from the rain. Her hair was wet and the ribbon was falling out, yet she didn't care. As the thunder boomed her walk turned into a run. It seemed as if she was walking through every single puddle in her path, although they could all easily be avoided. By the time she had gotten to their house, there wasn't an inch of her that wasn't dripping wet. She knocked on the door and Aiden's mother answered it, gasping as soon as she saw Tessa.

"Oh my, Tessa! How long have you been out in the rain? You're going to catch a cold! Come inside, I don't want you getting sick." Without letting her reply, Aiden's mother hurried her in the house and closed the door behind her. She was dripping water all over the mat.

"Oh, I'll have to find some dry clothes for you..." She fretted, pacing around before walking upstairs. Aiden came down the stairs, typing on his phone like a maniac. When he got to the final stair, Tessa sneezed.

He nearly tripped and dropped his phone, "Tess? What the hell are you doing here?" He almost lost his balance, "Aren't you suppose to be with your mom and stepdad today? And your little sister?"

"I'm here because... I ran away," She breathed, looking at the ground, "Olivia. She's the problem. That little... _brat_..." Her voice went quiet, "She makes my life a living hell. I tried to get my parents to pay attention to me and what I needed to say, but they didn't listen, they just talked about my perfect sister and how she's so amazing and spectacular. I just stood there, waiting for them to notice I had heard what they were saying to their friends the whole time. But I just got ignored. They didn't even know I walked out the door. I then stood in the rain for a few minutes outside my door, hoping they would come looking for me and find me there. A few minutes passed, and I looked through the window. They walked around normally and treated everything normally. It was like if I wasn't there, nothing changed with them. So that's when I started running..."

Aiden's eyes were glued on her the whole time she spoke. Tessa just kinda stood there awkwardly and waited for him to say something.

"...I'm sorry," was all he could say, "Well... stay as long as you need to."

To Aiden's relief, his mother had some clothes with her, "Here. These were Erin's from when she was your age. Hopefully they fit you." She handed them to Tessa. She quickly excused herself and went to the bathroom to get changed. She could hear whispers exchanged between Aiden and his brother.

"What happened?" Ivan questioned quietly, looking towards the bathroom.

"Her dumbass parents." He replied with an eye roll, "They're ignoring her again and obviously drinking way too much."

"Can't she just stay with her dad?" He asked, baffled.

"That's not how the shared custody works I think. Besides, the walk is an hour away. At least we were decently close."

"Anyways... on Saturday, I was thinking we could go up Mt. Ebott looking for a bug. It's something I'd like to sketch and use for research purposes."

"Ivan, that was a mountain that a kid disappeared down a few years ago. Are you sure it's safe? Besides, another girl went missing a week or so ago near that area and I think her disappearance may be linked to Mt. Ebott..."

"I'm sure she just went missing. Kids do all the time."

"I don't think we should."

"If you do, I'll buy you new bullets for your gun." His eyes flashed. It was quite the proposal to Aiden, since he always did need new ones.

"Ugh... Fine. Deal. Do we tell the others?"

"No, more people means it'll go slower. Besides, they'd all be pretty useless at this anyways. I'm taking you because at least you can fight anything if we do encounter something. Not safe to go off alone." He explained to him with his arms crossed.

"Well... I guess I can agree to that..." Aiden replied sheepishly, "As long as it involves you ending up safe." He shrugged.

Tessa opened the door and acted as if she had heard nothing, "Oh, hey Ivan." She waved, tying her wet ribbon in her hair. It drooped, but she knew it'd be fine anyways.

"Hey. I kinda remember that shirt... I think it's in an old photo." Aiden reminisced. Ivan looked over at him in disbelief, "Really?"

"Yeah, really."

"I'm pretty sure you're mistaken. I've seen every photo album and don't remember Erin wearing that shirt once." He challenged.

"That's because it's not in any of the photo albums." He sighed, pulling his hat off of his head. A photo was taped to the top. One that he could take off at any time. He showed it to him.

"What's so special about this picture?" Ivan raised an eyebrow at him. Tessa looked over as if to ask the same question. The three kids had their faces covered in cake. It seemed to be at least eight years old, possibly nine.

"It was the day of your third birthday. You were so excited, but you smashed your head into your piece of cake. To make you feel better, Erin and I did the same. It made you feel a lot better and you even giggled at it. The thing is, it was the first memory I remember having. I know it's crazy. Some people have memories from when they were four, maybe even three, but mine was at five. So it's pretty important to me. And... it reminds me of Erin's smile..." He couldn't help but grin at the picture before putting it away, "But enough of that."

"Anyways, I'm heading to my room," Ivan announced, stepping upstairs. Aiden waved. Tessa did as well.

She hesitated as Aiden sat down. He looked over as he flipped through channels, "Well, what's on your mind, Tess?"

"I..." She froze up a little. _What was it Harmony was all about? Honesty was the best policy? Or something? Umm..._

Aiden waited expectantly.

Usually Tessa avoided confrontation, but she just kinda tightened her fist, "I... heard Ivan and you talk about climbing Mt. Ebott. One of the most dangerous mountains in the world... I don't want you to go. It's not safe."

"What's the problem?" Aiden sat up, confused, not all that surprised she had tuned in, "Most of the stuff we do is dangerous as it is."

"Haven't you heard the tale Aiden? History class? It meant absolutely nothing to you?"

"You mean the class I schedule my napping time in?" He joked, "But seriously. Doesn't ring a bell."

"Oh... alright... well, I'll tell it to you then, even though I'm certain you've heard of it. Years ago, a boy from the village at the base of the mountain ran up there. He lost his footing and fell. Fell into what is known as the Underground. Legend has it, those who climb are destined to never return. As for the boy? He never did."

"Oh, that- Aw, come on, that's just a legend, a tall tale. Even if it isn't, Ivan and I will be extra careful. I promise."

"You promise...?" Tessa eyed him intensely. She made a fair point. Aiden's "promises" were never usually something he kept; sometimes they were, most times, he forgot he even _made_ a promise to begin with.

"Alright, alright, I won't do it. Solemnly swear." He leaned back on the couch. He settled on a channel and glued his eyes to the TV. Tessa sighed and got to her feet. When Aiden's mind was set on something, everything else was tuned out. She stepped over to the kitchen, peeking in. When she saw Mrs. Tringali, she quickly apologized, seeing she was in the middle of something. She was doing a bunch of bills or taxes or something.

"Tessa? It's perfectly okay if you need something." She smiled reassuringly. Tessa walked in a little slowly, "Do you have a place I can sleep?" She asked shyly, slightly embarrassed for some reason.

"Oh, of course. There's a spare guest bedroom you can use, I'm certain _Aiden will lead you to it_." She emphasized her the last part as if to get his attention, "Aiden." She coughed, looking over at him seriously.

"Ugh, but my show-" He began to whine as his mother cut him off,

"It can wait. If Tessa is tired, she deserves to get some rest and not wait on you." His mother replied, her voice a little snappy.

Aiden leaped to his feet, knowing how angry his mom could get, and dashed towards the stairs, "This way, Tess!" She followed behind him silently.

He stopped at the end of the hall, "Alrighty, it's right here." He opened the door. It was a neat king sized bed and had a lamp next to it on a night stand.

"Thank you..." Tessa sat on the bed, looking down at her feet.

"Anytime. If you need anything, I'll be downstairs. After 11ish I usually go up to my room as you can find me there. Don't know why though." He chuckled, closing the door with a short goodbye before heading back down the stairs.

Tessa looked out the window, "I wish my mom was like this..." Her mind slowly drifted off to what her own mother treated her like.

* * *

" _Tessa? Where's your mom?" It was the end of the school day in September. Tessa was sitting on a bench in the pickup area, her lunchbox on her lap._

 _"Not coming. She forgot." She replied in a calm voice. It was a voice of knowing- Emily frowned, thinking she should've expected this herself._

 _"Wanna get a ride home with me? Mom's always willing to go out of her way..." Emily suggested thoughtfully with a polite grin._

 _"No, I think I'll wait here for a bit before I start walking." She dismissed the idea. Emily seemed worried, but gave her goodbye before she left._

 _A part of Tessa hoped her mother was coming for once; maybe she was just running late, she hadn't forgotten at all. But she knew her mother was just at home with her fiancé Randal. She got to her feet and left the school, relieved home was only a ten minute walk from where her school was._

 _When she opened the door, she regretted coming in. It reeked of stinky socks and Tessa's mom was on the couch watching a romantic comedy with Randal. Tessa just waited for her mom to look over, hoping she would. When her mom didn't, she sighed in defeat and walked upstairs. Her room was the only place in the house where she felt safe. She put her backpack under her desk. The room was enormous; it had enough room for Tessa to just be able to breathe. She laid on the floor until she heard her mother yell, "TESSA CLAIRE TAYLOR-SWANSON!"_

 _Tessa mumbled disappointedly, trudging down the stairs but trying to keep a happy face on as if nothing was wrong._

 _"I told you to unload the dishwasher yesterday, but, as expected, you didn't do it! You're so lazy, Tessa!" Her mother scolded._

 _Tessa didn't bother looking shocked. She just looked up at her mother and responded, "But Mom, you never asked me to." In an innocent tone._

 _"And now you're talking back to me? Oh my gosh, as always, I wish I just had a good daughter!" She snapped, "Go to your room! While you're at it, forget going to that birthday party on Sunday. I'll be telling your father all about this."_

 _Tessa looked stunned, but whirled around and walked upstairs. She pulled her knees up to her chest,_

 _"I just want a good mother. Someone who actually cares. Maybe Harmony's mother, a mom supportive in everything she does... or Emily's mother, a mother who's caring and always neat..."_

* * *

"Or Aiden's Mom... a mother who would do anything to make you feel comfortable, and reassure you, and know how to treat you with respect and kindness, even if you are younger than her." She longed to be half as lucky as her friends were- but no such luck. She thought to another memory, one when her half sister was born and they took her home from the hospital.

* * *

" _Tessa, since you only live here part time, we're moving your room on the other side of ours and giving Olivia your bedroom." Her mother explained. Tessa gasped, but didn't protest. The other room didn't have nearly as much space, and she always thought the walls were thinner, meaning her parents could hear anything she needed to say._

 _Olivia grew up as a type of pampered princess. She was spoiled rotten, and did anything she could to get Tessa in trouble. One time, Olivia was playing with dolls as Tessa was doing homework, and just to spite her, Olivia ripped the head off of one of her dolls and blamed it on her! Obviously, her step dad and mom thought their perfect daughter was telling the truth and it made Tessa out to be a good for nothing terrible big sister._

 _What also started to get on Tessa's nerves was how much Olivia insisted she needed everything. When Tessa got new clothes, Olivia did too. When Tessa got a phone, Olivia wanted one. And mind you, Olivia was several years younger than her. Being six years old, Olivia already owned a phone, always got everything she wanted, and made Tessa's life miserable. Tessa, thinking one day it would dawn on her mother and stepfather, patiently waited for her to finally discipline her. But it never came. The only attention, love, and gifts she got from any of her family members was her dad. Her dad was always swamped with work, trying to make enough of a living to keep both him and Tessa living under a roof with enough food on the table to provide for both of them. Her mom and stepdad, on the other hand, went out to the bar multiple times a week and ignored all responsibilities._

 _The final straw was that day; Olivia was getting praised, and when Tessa refused to tell her how amazing and wonderful she was, she threw one of her signature tantrums. Her parents, furious, yelled at her to go to her room. It was the most common punishment she was given. She rolled her eyes and went upstairs. After forty minutes, she built up enough courage to walk downstairs. She had forgotten, but her mom's friends were over for a dinner party. Tessa tossed it aside, knowing she still needed to talk._

 _"Mom?" She asked firmly, standing there was a straight expression, "I need to talk to you about something."_

 _No reply. Just more laughter around the table as another hilaaaaarioussss joke was told. She stood there for at least ten minutes, thinking they'd notice, but when they didn't, that was when she gave in and ran off._

* * *

Tessa felt tears rolling down her cheeks. She quickly wiped them off of her cheeks and got under the sheets, relaxing a little,

"I will never be a Taylor. I will be known as Tessa Claire Swanson. That is my name. My real name."

* * *

 **If it didn't make sense, Tessa's parents gave her both of their surnames when they split (Taylor-Swanson). Swanson's was her dad's, Taylor's was her mom's. Sorry if I'm using it wrong. I don't have experience with divorce or anything. Thank you for reading!**


	32. Wanted Posters

**HAPPY FIRST ANNIVERSARY GROUPTALE!**

 **It's been a long ride so far, but I can't believe it was a year ago that I started writing this.**

 **Tessa: Hurray!**

 **Ethan: AWESOME!**

 **Harmony: Woohoo!**

 **Ivan: A year and we've gotten a few days older?**

 **Emily: Don't ruin this with logic!**

 **Aiden: *blows noisemaker***

 **Frisk and Chara: Cool beans.**

 **Sorry for this late update, everyone. I kinda haven't done more with the storyline and knew I wouldn't finish it on time (it's a very long chapter) so I made an improvised one.**

 **Anyways... here's the chapter!**

* * *

Frisk laid her head up, looking at the ceiling of the bedroom. Aiden and Emily were out exploring, Ethan and Harmony were still not back, and the other two were playing a round of chess. Neither of them at first saw Frisk glittering red eyes. Chara was sitting next to her, lost in his own thoughts. They never would know how many timelines she went through or how much countless resetting was required for her to get the ending she wanted.

It was funny; despite having never done a run of genocide, Sans and Chara kept anticipating it. It wasn't hard to tell, judging by their facial expressions or actions. And now the weight of the lives of six others rested on her should. Failing to get her ending- it seemed as though resetting would destroy their lives and send her back into the normal loop. The constant loop of making it to the surface, but feeling so empty. She knew what would fill that void, but not _how_ she could fill that void.

Not even ten billion resets could remove the image of all of the dead children's flyers from her head. She stared at her sword, running her fingers over its surface before it evaporated.

It's not like she wanted anyone to know, anyways.

* * *

" _Will you play with me?" A tiny Frisk asked, holding up her doll as she waited for her mother's response. Her mother patted her head, moving the phone away from her ear,_

 _"In a moment, honey. I'm on the phone right now," She grinned at her daughter before raising the phone to her ear, "What? That boy and that girl still haven't been found? It's been a few years since the boy disappeared and a year since the girl did. I think they may as well just forbade anyone from going near Mount Ebott! All it's doing is putting innocent children in danger. I know I wouldn't want my little daughter near the mountain knowing so many kids mysteriously disappear." She pursed her lips before sending Frisk away to a different room._

 _Frisk, not understanding, shrugged to herself and left the room, waiting for her mother's arrival._

* * *

 _She did come and play with Frisk; although her daughter thoroughly enjoyed her company, she knew that Frisk must've been lonely most of the time. They lived in a small family and lived farther away from civilization than a family really should. Frisk had no aunts, no uncles, no siblings, and obviously no cousins. She was alone in most of what she did, but that was fine by her (most of the time). What she hated the most was she got too much attention. Her parents and grandparents spoiled her, despite her not being in need of what she received. Sometimes, she felt she was treated more highly than other children because most kids had siblings and other family members that the attention would spread to._

* * *

 _"Come on, Frisk!" Her best friend whined. Frisk went to a small school, which wasn't far away from her house. It was on the coast of a town of more well-known area, you could say. The wind was blowing, along with their speed, which made a flyer attached to a tree come clean off. Frisk pulled him to a stop, looking back, "Shoot. We knocked something down." She walked over and picked up the paper, looking at what the front said._

 **MISSING CHILD REPORT**

 **A picture of Ethan with a very forced smile was above the information.**

 **Name: Ethan P. Wright**

 **Age: 14**

 **Last seen: August 26th**

 **...**

 _More information was listed, but the main thing that always caught Frisk's eye was-_

 **REWARD: $1,000,000**

 _"It's a missing child report, Landon," Frisk explained as she read, "The reward is..." She was quickly cut off by her friend._

 _"A buttload of money!" He finished, his eyes sparkling as he looked over the flyer, "Do you know what we could do with that kinda money?" His eyes shimmered at the amount listed, but something in Frisk felt... weird._

 _"I mean... I know we could do a lot, but I never knew a person could be worth so much money. What is he, the prince of this village?" She scanned the flyer a second time, "I wonder... do his parents care so much that they think it's necessary for a million dollar reward in exchange for him? Or do they not really care and he's just an object to them..."_

 _"I think you're overanalyzing this, Frisk." Her friend shook his head. Usually, he was right about what he was saying. Most of the time, Frisk did overthink things. Knowing this, she knew it was just in her nature to overlook everything. It could come in handy, but most of the time, all it did was get on the nerves of everyone._

 _Frisk sighed, folding the flyer up and putting it in her pocket. It seemed strange, but she didn't question it, "I bet everyone's looking for him just to get money... not because they care about someone's life..." She pictured the obviously very rich boy in her head, thinking about how the money obviously didn't mean enough to him to make him want to stay with his family._

 _She wondered, how would this kid Ethan feel knowing his parents were offering a million bucks for his return. Probably frustrated, or at the very least disappointed because he was being treated like an object._

* * *

 _It was a few weeks later, and it was even chillier than it was in September. But a new flyer appeared. This one was for a thirteen-year-old girl- the image was of a young girl wearing a skirt and shirt. Her name was Harmony A. Beaulieu and the flyer seemed a bit old. It read September 17th, despite it already being in the middle of October. Her last sighting was at her middle school, and the last time her friends saw her was in the direction of Mount Ebott. It even went further about how she had been best friends with Ethan and they even rarely were apart._

 _Frisk didn't understand; these kids had families, friends, and so many other people who cared for them. Yet they still climbed Mount Ebott, Perhaps not feeling noticed? Did they feel they'd come and go and no one would know they were ever even there? Landon tugged her by the arm while she still had the flyer in her hand. He was the type of boy to focus on the future and try and get Frisk to keep her mind off of something that would always be out of her control._

 _It didn't make any sense. None at all._

 _Another flyer besides the two she had seen so far was up too. It seemed a few years old, maybe seven years of age, which was probably why it was rarely around. Her last sighting was at home with her step mother, her name reading Tessa C. Swanson. It was from when she was younger and didn't even know there was such thing as a missing child. Often, her parents or Landon distracted her from it, until it eventually slipped from her mind._

* * *

 _A year and a half later, a new flyer had been posted. This was the youngest kid so far, only at age twelve the day of his disappearance. He was last spotted on the twenty-fifth of April. His name was Ivan Tringali. He was as pale as a vampire and his black hair was neatly combed to the side._

 _As Frisk expected, he was a climber of Mount Ebott as well. That's what the flyer said, anyways. It seemed to be written by everyone in his family, but the last note was by someone who went by the initials "A.T."_

 _"Return Ivan. If you see him, I'll be forever in your debt." The writing was barely even legible; on the other hand, Frisk's writing was so terrible that perhaps that was why she could make out the message._

 _At the time, it was something that didn't mean something much to her. But it eventually did._

* * *

 _The first of May. The next flyer appeared. Emily Miller. A twelve year old who supposedly went looking for Ivan. Her parents encouraged her to not worry about it, and that they'd all be found someday. Perhaps they were just trying to save her from the same fate they had. But Frisk was now curious. What did Mount Ebott do for them? Five children were gone. Didn't they see their families cared? Didn't they see they were needed? Obviously not. Even after a week, it still lingered._

* * *

 _"Mom? Dad? Is there any reason why anyone would climb up Mount Ebott?" Frisk asked, shutting off the TV as the show ended. Her parents exchanged a glance,_

 _"Why are you asking? You aren't intending on following their example, are you?" Her father's eyes widened. His face showed a mixture of shock and slight anger._

 _Frisk shook her head vigorously, "No! No! Just... for almost the past decade, kids have been disappearing from the town near my school... is it really Mount Ebott? Or is someone really kidnapping them and making it seem like they're being captured..." She continued, tapping her chin in thought._

 _"Frisk, you're overthinking it. The reason the kids climbed... if I had to guess, it would either be to escape from their home lives, to end their lives, or both. I hope you wouldn't even imagine climbing Mount Ebott." Her mother kissed her forehead gently. Frisk simply nodded in understanding,_

 _"No. I promise I won't. I have you two, and that's all I need..." She hugged them tightly, her mind still wandering, "I just wish I could've prevented them... all of them... from falling..." Her expression seemed solemn. They didn't deserve this... they didn't deserve to disappear after everyone was still hopeful that they were out there._

 _"That's a good girl..." her father murmured, hugging her in return alongside her mother. The rain poured outside, Frisk burying her head into her parents. Eventually, they could all be okay..._

 _June 27th. The last child before Frisk fell was gone. Finally, Frisk understood the initials on Ivan's posted. It was his brother. Aiden Tringali, a fifteen year old boy, ascended the mountain. It was his brother, Frisk knew. His headstrong brother wanted to find him, which wasn't much of a shocker._

 _"Frisk... stop looking at those," Landon tore down the one she was staring at, "You're making yourself feel worse. Just... come on. Let's get to the park." He beckoned for her to follow as he began walking. Frisk, hesitating, slowly trotted after him. He was right, maybe she didn't have a reason to fret about them. After all, she hoped no one else would go after them. Landon cared; he just wanted what was best for her. Reminding herself of people who had been gone for months, years, or even just days, would tear her up inside. Landon knew her that well. After a while, Frisk convinced herself that Aiden was the end and no one would follow._

 _Little did she know that someone would._

* * *

 _August 1st, 20XX_

 _Staring down the endless hole, Frisk smiled to herself. Realizing why the others had done the same, she was determined to follow. Her birthday. The worst birthday she could ever remember._

 _It took so long, yet she understood; Thinking of the flyers, she did what she didn't think she could. Her eyes glowed as she saw her fate, remembering the promise she would have to break. It took so much to leave it behind- but knowing there was a destiny ahead of her, she decided to climb. Never again would she let her heart shatter._

 _Never again would she let her mind be so scattered._

* * *

 **No, this is not Frisk's backstory chapter. It just explores what she remembers of her friends from the very first timeline, as well as the fact that her climb was intentional. Landon plays an important role in her backstory, so I threw him in there a little. In the first timeline-**

 **Tessa's jump is out of stress.**

 **Ethan's jump is out of both his bravery and frustration.**

 **Harmony's fall is out of dealing with a bad family situation. She also wanted to know if Ethan was alive somehow.**

 **Ivan's fall is out of selfishness and need.**

 **Emily's climb is due to a failed search for everyone else.**

 **Aiden's jump, as Frisk's is, is one hundred percent intentional. His plan was to find the others.**

 **Frisk has a similar jump to Aiden's, but a certain reason is why she wants to climb.**

 **P.S. The first few kiddos have sucky families, especially Tessa's mom and Ethan's cruddy parents. Also don't care if no one would ever offer a million dollars for finding their son, but Ethan's parents do, so just kinda get over it. And although it's very unlikely that Frisk finds all their posters, I did it anyways and I'm tired. Attack me all you want lol.**

 **can we get a f for these children?**

 **Maybe another chapter will come out today, we'll see~**

 **See you later, and Happy Grouptale Anniversary again!**


	33. Aiden and Em eat dinner with a skeleton

**Heyo, readers! Thanks for your patience, guys. Andddd no thanks to me for taking a billion years to get back to the storyline! Also special thanks to my sis _TearsByMoonlight_ for helping me write this. Enjoy~**

* * *

 **CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR**

 **.:EMILY:.**

"I'm going to go explore the hotel." Aiden got to his feet, pushing out the chair as he stood up. Tessa groaned as Ivan knocked over her bishop with his queen. The two were playing chess, obviously.

"It's not safe to go off alone. I'll join you." Emily got up from the bed. She smiled before following, pleased that Aiden was good with it.

The two walked down into the lobby. Sans was standing there, a regular wide grin on his face.

* * *

Aiden's phone rang a couple times. It stopped after a few rings. Tessa peeked over, only hearing its final ring. After Aiden's did, Ivan's rang.

"I need your help, now! The CORE!" Harmony yelled into the phone as he heard Ethan's shouting in the background. Ivan tried to listen in as Harmony screamed. The call ended and he slowly set down the phone, chilled. He got to his feet as well as Tessa. Frisk watched before getting up herself and following.

* * *

As they began to get closer to the entrance of the CORE, they spotted Harmony dragging Ethan by his leg with great difficulty. She tugged, but he only move a few inches every time she did. There was blood streaming down the side of her face. She seemed tired.

"What happened!" The three sped up to Harmony and Ethan. Harmony wiped her bleeding face with her shirt sleeve. Ethan was unconscious and his face was a mix of blood and bruises.

"T-Two monsters... Knight Light and Majicks... or something..." She stumbled forward a little bit, "E-Ethan didn't want any help... b-but if I gave him a say in the matter we'd both be d-dead..."

Frisk's eyes shimmered carefully, remembering how that could've ended as badly as it did in every other other timeline. She frowned at Harmony. Ivan half lifted up Ethan and Frisk rushed to his aid to help as well. Tessa let Harmony use her as a crutch.

"On the bright side, you two are okay. I'm sorry for what happened earlier, Harmony. I shouldn't have lashed out. Frisk... Frisk told us all about what's been going on with you. I hope you know I do not blame you for what you did, even though I do not agree with what you did."

Harmony paled and glanced at Frisk, Who whistled casually, but looked back at Ivan, "Yeah... I'm sorry too. Can you do me a favor though? Please, please don't tell Ethan what you guys know. I want to tell him when I feel it's the best time."

"Completely understandable," Ivan nodded, shrugging, "He's Ethan."

"Yeah, I'll be willing to not cause more problems around here. No more of that for me, thank you." Tessa sighed, helping to keep Harmony from falling, "I'll tell Aiden and Emily when I see them too... speaking of which, where are they?"

"They're out and about somewhere in Mettaton's Hotel. I'm sure they'll be back as soon as they're done with... whatever it is they're doing."

"Alright..." It was only then that Ivan truly could hear the strain in her voice.

* * *

"hey. i heard you guys will be headed to the CORE soon. but ethan and harmony already left to go there."

"Wait. How did you know that?" Aiden stopped outside of the hotel and looked over at him.

Sans ignored his question, "how about grabbing some dinner with me before you go on your way?"

"Just us?" Emily asked, tilting her head to the side.

"yeah, just you two. how about it?"

Emily and Aiden exchanged glances, "Ah, what the heck." Aiden shrugged, deciding to go with it.

"great, thanks for treating me." Sans winked at them.

"Wait, seriously? I agreed to come, not to pay!" Aiden perked, raising an eyebrow.

"Don't worry, I can pay!" Emily reassured, just so that he wouldn't get so frustrated.

"So, this way?" Aiden pointed towards the door, about to walk inside of the hotel.

"wait. i know a shortcut." Sans walked down a mysterious alleyway. Aiden and Emily trailed behind until they got to the diner (it took two seconds) and they sat down at the table across from Sans.

"How did you suddenly know we were coming to the CORE?" Emily asked politely, looking over at the candle. She was kinda nervous and excited to be there with Sans.

"eh. intuition i guess." He gave his usual shrug and wink.

"Why do you always wink at us?" Aiden flinched, "It's kinda creepy." Aiden was usually the most relaxed, but he couldn't help but point it out.

"'cause i can." He winked again.

"Well, are you going to talk to the others later?" He never thought Sans would talk to them without the rest of the kids with them. It was strange for it to just be him and Emily for a change.

"nah."

Aiden was confused (and a little surprised), but he decided not to question it.

"Everyone's been trying to kill us since we came Underground except for you, Toriel, and Papyrus. Why is that?" Suddenly, Aiden sounded like a detective.

"wow. really getting into the deep questions, huh?" He sipped a bottle of ketchup.

"Wait... where did you get the ketchup from?" Emily gawked. Aiden nearly asked him for some, but decided against it.

"who cares, it's ketchup." He took another sip of it.

"So, back to the question. Why haven't you decided to kill us yet?" Aiden pressed, thinking about what could've happened to them if he did.

"what reason would i have to kill ya? tell me that." Sans turned the question back to him.

Aiden didn't seem all that shocked at his reply, "Everyone wants to break the barrier. Don't you want to as well?" It made sense to him. Sans could easily kill the seven of them in one second.

"the surface sounds cool and all... but papyrus is more into that. but we've got all we need down here. good food, good drinks, bad jokes. what more could we really want?"

"So even though your brother wants to make it to surface, you have no interest in that at all?" Emily blinked at him, definitely not expecting that reply from him. Then again, she wasn't usually prepared for any reply.

"nope. not even a little. i mean, some of these monsters have seen the surface, which is why they want to go back up. but not me. i haven't seen the surface. don't know what i'm missing out on, so i don't really care." He shrugged, taking another slurp of the ketchup.

"Do monsters really care to get back to the surface, or do they just want revenge on humans so that's why they want to kill all of us?"

"i feel some really wanna see the sun. but the revenge thing is really on point, actually. i just don't really care enough. we're not being harmed down here. so if we get back up, who's to say they'll never be another war?" Sans asked as the dinner finally arrived. Both of the kiddos immediately dug in. Sans didn't seem to pick at the food that arrived. He never opened his mouth, anyways.

"That's... true. How much do you know about Asgore?" Aiden wanted to be ready for their battle when it came to that.

"big old king fluffy buns? yeah, i know a thing or two." Sans replied, the waiter refilling Aiden's water before slipping away again.

"Is he going to kill us then?" Emily wiped her face with her napkin.

Sans sighed a long sigh.

"honestly... that's his end goal. but i don't think he'd have the heart to kill six- seven kids. how many there are of you." He responded. Aiden and Emily both hoped what he said was true. Maybe some of them wouldn't need to die.

"If there's seven souls needed to break the barrier, does that mean he only needs six of our souls? Because he has Chara's soul, right?" Aiden thought back to the book in the library in Snowdin. The book Ivan had found. It explicitly stated that- with enough human souls- the barrier could shatter and they could be free again. Emily just hoped it wouldn't mean humans tried to kill monsters again, because- if she was being honest- she would side with the monsters.

Sans sighed once more, "uh... not really. how much do you know of chara's backstory?" He looked between the two.

"Not. A. Thing." Each word was quickly spoken.

"Except for the fact that he died." Emily added a little grimly.

"okay... well, a long time ago. maybe a couple years after monsters were banished from underground... chara fell Underground. he was the first human to fall underground after we got banished. did you know that toriel and asgore had a son?" Emily smiled at the thought of a floofy goat boy.

"Wait, they did?" Both of them seemed surprised. It wasn't like Toriel had given Asgore a good reputation from what they had heard, anyways.

"yup. his name was asriel. he was the prince of monsters. when chara fell, asriel was the first monster to meet him. chara was injured from the fall, so asriel took him back to the palace, where chara met tori and asgore." The skeleton explained to them.

"So Asgore was never always after humans?" Aiden softened a little. Seemed as if he had forgotten not everyone in the world was automatically against each other.

"of course not. we had no idea that only human souls could pass through the barrier. and nobody knew that multiple human souls could break the barrier."

"So no amount of monster souls have that capability then? What makes a human soul so powerful in comparison to a monster's soul?" Aiden didn't really understand the reason of why they needed their souls. Weren't they the same amount of power, especially since monsters had magic? It would make more sense if they had more power.

"it's kinda like a tradeoff. monsters have magic, but no powerful souls. humans have no magic, but powerful souls. now, i don't know if there's any magic in human souls, but if there is, i don't know how that could be tapped into."

"Huh... interesting. Please continue." Aiden urged.

"ok. back to the story. so asriel and chara got close. as close as brothers, so the king and queen accepted him as the second prince of the underground. the two did everything together, and monsters loved chara."

Emily grinned once more, this time about the thought of the two siblings adventuring across the Underground.

"Chara is a prince? He didn't tell us that." This ghost that was following them around was royalty- really?

"i don't think chara likes to think about the past." answered Sans, shaking his head.

"Why?" Emily wasn't nosy, but she really was curious about what he had gone through.

"well... gotta finish the story first. so chara... really loved monsters just as they loved him. so... he decided he wanted to free monsters. no one knew why this idea got put in his head as his job, but it did."

"W-What did he do to try and free monsters?" Emily swallowed, her eyes going a little wide. She looked pale.

"well... buttercups are extremely poisonous to humans."

"He ate them?" Aiden's voice was serious. Emily shuddered. Why would Chara poison himself?

"yeah... and he persuaded asriel to go along with his plan." Sans's eye sockets darkened.

"What was his plan?" Aiden adjusted his hat. Whatever it was, it must've failed, he knew.

"he was going to use his soul to cross the barrier by merging souls with asriel. their combined souls would take them to the surface and they would go kill humans in chara's old village so they would have enough souls to break the barrier. as asriel crossed the barrier, he brought chara's body to lay it in his favorite flowers in his old village."

"Well, we all know that shattering the barrier must've not worked... considering this place still exists with you all in it." Emily sighed softly.

"right. so asriel didn't want to kill anybody. apparently he and chara had shared control over asriel's body, so asriel's soul resisted." He continued, his voice dark.

"Well, Chara kinda seems like the murdering type, soooooooo I'm not very surprised." Aiden was kinda blunt about it, but he _was_ only being honest.

Emily hit him on the shoulder.

"well... chara's an interesting case."

"What do you mean by that?"

"well... chara has an enormous sense of justice. kinda ironic considering he has a determination soul. he found it to be injustice that the monsters were underground, so he decided to act upon that justice."

"Well, I can understand that. I have a strong sense of justice too." Well, Aiden was the Justice soul, so if you didn't guess that by now then I'm probably failing my job as an author. But back to the story.

"well, even though asriel resisted before they heard anyone, because the look of a human and monster soul combined, they freaked and attacked asriel, because they thought asriel killed chara."

There was a moment of silence from both kids, "What happened after that...?" Emily's voice was barely below a whisper.

"chara was the one who dragged the two of them away... and they went back underground."

"Wait, So Asriel's now? Is he with Asgore?" As Emily took it, they miraculously survived. But... that's not what happened at all...

Sans's eyesockets darkened, "you see... kid...dos... asriel's dead..."

"W-What?" Emily's voice cracked.

"he didn't have enough strength when he came back underground to survive longer... he collapsed, still holding chara's body as his parents rushed over, mourning both of their sons."

"I have a question, Sans. How do you know all of this?" Aiden was overwhelmed with curiosity at this point.

"you kids are killing me with questions."

"Well?" Aiden pressured.

He gave a small smile, "well, you see kiddos... it's raining somewhere..."

"Excuse me Sans, but that makes literally zero sense to me." Aiden facepalmed. He didn't really understand Sans all that much.

"sorry... i... uh, got lost in my memory there." He apologized, his smile not really wavering. The two knew by now that it was not a genuine smile, of course.

"Well, you still didn't answer my question." Aiden couldn't help but mention, wanting to get back on track.

"welp. you know how I work as a sentry in Snowdin forest."

"Yeah?" Emily was anxiously waiting for further explanation.

"well... so you kids came out of a big door, right into Snowdin. and i discovered that door a long time ago. so, naturally, i went to practice my knock knock jokes on it."

"So... you actually did a knock knock joke on a door?" Emily found this amusing.

"you got an issue with it?" He peeked open an eye.

"No, no, of course not! That's just not usually how it works on the surface." Emily quickly answered, hoping it didn't offend him.

Sans just shook his head. "anyways, i practiced my jokes every day to slack off from sentry duty, since no humans typically fall," He winked, "but one day, i got a reply to one of my knock-knock jokes."

"Did the door reply to you?" Aiden laughed, but it wasn't particularly funny in the slightest. Emily didn't find it funny.

Sans chuckled anyways, because he's Sans and that's his type of humor, and continued, "no, but the lady behind it did. she's the best audience i've ever had. she laughed at all of my jokes and even threw in some of her own. man, was it a time. every day was a lotta fun with just telling jokes."

"How long did this go on for?" Aiden questioned, tilting his head, "Like... days, months, or..."

"months and months...maybe years, i dunno, i don't really keep track of the days anymore." For some reason, this really disheartened Emily. To think that the humans had trapped them for so long that they didn't even know what year it was...

They didn't know what day it was, either. This gave Emily chills and made her feel worse.

"Was this all day?" Aiden knew he had to care for his brother, knowing Papyrus, but he was also wondering if most of his time was spent there with her.

Sans yawned while he spoke, "nah, i mean, i didn't have work all day and paps would expect me home. so it was maybe a few hours a day, probably not every single day. gotta have a day off sometimes. of course, i'd tell her when i was off so she knew she wouldn't hear more jokes on those days."

"This door... it reminds me of something." Emily's mind flickered to a door in Waterfall, "It's not the same door... but I keep thinking about it? Anyways... it sounds like you cared a lot about this person."

"yeah. i did. i still do. but one day, we didn't joke around. i told some jokes, but she didn't laugh. i asked her what was wrong, and she asked me to promise her something," Sans shifted in his seat and shoved his hands in his pockets, "now, i hate making promises because i'm terrible at keeping them. but i couldn't refuse her."

"Hm... this lady feels familiar," Aiden thought to himself, sparing a moment to stare at Sans before speaking again, "What'd she ask you? I mean, if that's not too personal."

"nah, it's not. she said if a human came through that door from the ruins to not harm them, but protect them. to this day, i have yet to break my promise." Not that either of them (or any of the kids) knew, but some of the resets could say otherwise.

Emily fiddled with her shirt sleeves, "...so you only haven't killed us because someone asked you too? 'Cause you didn't want to break your promise...?"

Sans closed his eyes. "mmmm...that's a part of it, but you haven't done anything to make me want to kill you. if you killed anybody...like my brother...then we'd have a problem."

"Right. Who kills someone's brother? Anyways, this lady is Toriel, right?" Aiden continued as he flipped the gun around his finger, "Toriel asked you."

"hmm...yes, i think that's her name."

"Thought so. Sounds like something she would do. Especially when you mentioned the Ruins door." He stopped his gun and put it back in his holster. Sounded like Sans and Toriel shared a lot with each other.

"Huh... I guess I never thought of that." Emily shrugged.

"she's one of the best friends i've ever had. i don't know what she looks like, but i would protect her if anything were to go wrong." Sans laughed to himself.

"Sounds kinda like us. If anyone touches any of my friends," Aiden's expression darkened, " _I'd no longer be a pacifist."_

"yeah. you'd pass-your-fist through their faces," Sans joked with a laugh.

Somehow, both of the kids chuckled, "Well... I wish I could do the same... but I'd never kill anyone unless it was the nicest thing to do for them... you know? Like if they've went insane to the point that they'd be better off dead," Still, Emily wore a nervous smile, "I hope it never comes to that."

"hopefully not. anyways, i've kept you for a while. you should go catch up with your friends now."

"Guess so. Well, then, see you later!" Aiden tipped his hat before leaving the secret way.

"Bye!" Emily waved, bounding after him.

And neither of the kids paid the bill.

"bye." Sans yawned, waving in return. (And yes, he did pay the bill).

"So, back to the hotel?" Aiden asked Emily, "Ohhhhh they're going to kill us. I wonder where Harmony and Ethan are."

"Oh my gosh, we should've looked for them! I know Ivan's mad at them, but...!" Emily sped ahead of him and back to the hotel room before he could even reply.


	34. Bonus Chapter: Unlocked

**Warning: Dark themes and mentions of religion**

 ** _Bonus Chapter: Ethan's Mindscape_**

"Ethan! Wake up!"

Ethan groaned putting his face into his... pillow? His eyes bolted open and he unintentionally snapped who ever was there in the wrist.

"Hey! Be a little nicer, would ya?" Aiden's voice snipped, retracting his hand and rubbing his wrist, "It's not my fault you're snoring like a bear."

"I do not snore like a-" Ethan cut himself off as his vision adjusted. It was Aiden and Harmony who were mainly in his face, but he could hear Ivan and Tessa's voices from behind the pair.

"You wanna know what he really snores like?" Tessa whispered to Ivan, thinking her voice couldn't be heard by Ethan.

"What?" Ivan snickered, except he knew that Ethan could hear him.

"A train! Like, a train whistle." Tessa covered her mouth as she snorted with a smirk, "Choo choo!" She pretended to pull the whistle like an engineer would. Ivan couldn't help but laugh.

"Oh, that's a good one!"

"Wait, Wait, Wait." Ethan shook his head, jumping to his feet. He nearly tripped in the process, beginning to fall over when Harmony caught him.

"Hey! Learn to walk before you try to run." She suggested, helping him to his feet. It took a minute to sink in, but Ethan suddenly hugged her, trying to make sure she was real.

Emily chuckled, although Ethan could've sworn she wasn't there a second ago, "Someone's very very very grateful that he didn't get hurt." It was a bit of a tease, but she couldn't help it.

"I'm so sorry I didn't protect you!" He shook her a little, "But you're okay now! It's good!" He then pulled her back into a hug.

"It was such a terrible dream, we were all Underground because Ivan wanted to find this beetle and then Aiden fell, and so we followed them and we fell down too and we met Toriel, and Sans, and Papyrus, and this shitty Flower, and-"

"Slow down there!" Aiden folded his arms, "We can't make out a word you're saying," He lifted his head up, looking away from Ethan, arms still crossed, "Honestly..."

"Sorry, sorry, it was just... a terrible dream..." He let out a deep breath, letting go of Harmony and putting a hand on his heart, "It ended with a nightmare..."

"Well, I'm sorry that happened." Ivan pushed his glasses a little up the bridge of his nose.

"Why are you waking me up, anyways?" Ethan complained, still trying to shake the whole adventure out of his head. He really made that whole story up in his own mindscape, huh...? Maybe he could get Ivan to write a fanfic about it, then... not that Ethan had the time of day for those, anyways (okay yes he did).

"We were all going to go up Mount Ebott so we could-" Emily began, jumping back when Ethan cut her off.

"Wait! Mount Ebott? No way! We're not going up there!" His voice skyrocketed and he clenched his fists, his eyes blazing.

"Really? You were all game for it the other day..." Harmony raised an eyebrow suspiciously, "I don't know why you would change your mind, if I'm being real..."

"It's dangerous, I'm not letting any of you go up there!" Ethan turned away, his bandanna swooshing around when he turned.

"You're over exaggerating, it was just a dream." Aiden countered, glaring at him. Uncharacteristically, everyone agreed.

"It's like you're a whole different person..." Harmony muttered, curling her lip slightly.

"Me? You're the ones acting strange! Just... leave me alone!" Ethan shouted, the words piercing into his own skin as everything faded to black. When he woke up, he was back in bed. Except everything felt wrong.

Ethan, knowing this, got to his feet and started running. It was as if everything was going as it did on the day they fell down Mount Ebott- he was even dressed as he was running. He flinched, but didn't take time to think about it. After all, if this was a one way ticket to changing the future of them Underground, he had to do it- even if it did mean he was back with his parents and working as someone he wasn't.

"Wait! Stop!" He yelled, still ascending up the mountain. He knew they had to be there- and he had to stop them before they fell and everything was how it was again. He got to the cave, gasping for air. He panted, looking inside to see his friends. Everyone was gone- except for Harmony. Ethan did not hesitate- he sprang into the cave as Harmony fell backwards, extending her hand.

"HARMONY!" When he tried to grab it, the world disappeared around them- and Harmony dissolved.

He was placed in an old memory, instead. Forced to relive moments he never wanted to have to remember...

* * *

" _Ethan, we would like you to finish up soccer practice and then come home. If you are lucky, we will visit your grandparents tomorrow after Church." Ethan's mother told him over text. Ethan sighed, trying to wipe off some of his sweat as he took a long sip from his water bottle. He could tell just from the text that his mother had her arms folded and that she didn't really want to go there. His "good" side of grandparents were the ones on his mother's side- his mother wasn't from a rich family, so of course she was raised with an average lifestyle. His grandparents were the sweetest people he had ever met- perhaps what kept them coming back was Ethan's love for them and the fact that his mother couldn't refuse an invite over from them._

 _He walked home, his soccer bag slung over his shoulder. A small smile lingered on his face._

 _Despite the glares he got on the car ride there on Sunday, Ethan could not be more happy to be going to see them..._

* * *

 _"Grandma! Grandpa!" Ethan nearly squealed when he opened the door, taking off his tennis shoes and tossing them aside as he ran over to kiss both of them on the cheek. The house was small, but appealed to Ethan._

 _"Why are you so chipper today? You just saw us half an hour ago." His grandmother chuckled, Ethan sitting down on the couch near her recliner chair,_

 _"I'm just glad to see you again is all!" He beamed at them, fixing his bandanna, "I didn't get to tell you about my week at school." Ethan hated school, but he usually had something to share with his grandparents._

 _"What about that girl you like, Harmony?" His grandmother questioned when he didn't bring her up in the conversation._

 _"Grandma! She's just a friend," Ethan whined, folding his arms and blushing (as much as he didn't want to admit it), "Why do you always insist I like her..."_

 _"Because you always bring her up!" His grandfather answered simply._

 _"Oh, not you too Grandpa!" He pouted, even more distressed at the thought. Couldn't he have a friend who was female without his grandparents insisting he had a crush on her? (A/N: no)_

 _Sooner than later, his aunts, uncles, and cousins showed up. He loved his cousins, but unfortunately the feeling was not mutual..._

 _The problem was that his mother's siblings never got along well with her because she changed once she married a rich man. As much as they never saw it, Ethan never could convince them that he was not his parents._

 _The group was playing games outside, so Ethan, after a bit of thinking, decided to join them. Surely, this time they would let him join._

 _"Hey, guys, mind if I join?" He asked, jumping down the last step. The breeze was cool and it was a very exceptional day outside- it was the perfect climate for any game they could play outside._

 _Instead of getting a serious response, Ethan's cousins all laughed, taking it as a joke._

 _"I'm serious!" He insisted through gritted teeth, clenching his fists as always._

 _"Can't you just buy yourself some friends?" His cousin mocked, laughing._

 _"Are you kidding me? He's already bought friends! Like that ballerina, he-"_

 _"What." He approached his younger cousin slowly, his footsteps causing everyone to stop. His expression was dark._

 _"Huh?" All of his laughing and jerky cousins stopped, now blatantly confused about his reaction._

 _"What the hell did you just say." His bandanna blew in the wind as he spike._

 _"That you bought friends, like Harmony? And that science boy, Ivan- he could make way better friends than you! And that cooking girl, Ivan's brother, and-"_

 _"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST SAY?" He repeated in a shout, his eyes filled with rage._

 _"You can buy yourself friends because your family is so rich. Heck, I bet you bribed her and the others just to be in a five foot radius of you!" His tomboy cousin laughed, her smirk wide and pissing Ethan off._

 _"I oughta punch in your-" He held up his younger cousin's shirt, his eyes a little crazed. She looked fearful, like she was going to cry, and instead let out a huge wail._

 _And all the adults saw was Ethan, looking like a bad guy._

Just like his dad.

* * *

 _There was a lot of laughter from the living room. Meanwhile, Ethan was stuck by himself in the back room. The worst thing was, he always looked like the bad guy. Today, it seemed everyone had enough of it and isolated him from everyone else. His parents, of course, did not yet say anything to him. He knew he would get a lecture of how to act in the car, but he didn't care._

 _He just wanted them to stop teasing him. It was this way since the beginning of time- a constant cycle of gaining friends and then getting backlash for it._

 _He heard footsteps coming into the room and shut his eyes, praying for anything but another taunt._

 _It was merely his grandpa, heading to the bathroom. He opened the bathroom door and shut it, doing his business before he came back out, heading back to the living room._

 _"Grandpa, I'm sorry-" He began, on his feet and behind him. His grandpa just hugged him, nodding in understanding._

Ethan knew that he knew...

* * *

 _Ethan stared out the hospital window, tears running down his face. Everyone was sobbing and mourning his grandfather. He felt empty. He felt blank._

 _He felt nothing._

 _The world was a cruel place. Never in a million years did he expect this day to come so soon._

 _He didn't even get to say goodbye. The last thing he said to him was on Sunday, at Church, running off to the car before his parents could leave without him, and quickly hugging his grandpa as he said, "I'll see you next week, Grandpa! I love you!"_

 _"Goodbye, Ethan. I'll see you next time." Were the last words he ever heard him speak._

 _For once, even his family that seemed to hate him felt sympathy._

 _From then on, it seemed as if his cousins and aunts and uncles were closer to him than ever._

 _Even with the damage he had not even created fixed, it never filled the gaping hole in his heart._

And it certainly didn't take away the pain.

* * *

Even with the memories finally fading, Ethan was stuck in a world of darkness.

With no way out.

He fell to his knees, shaking. Until a hand was placed on his shoulder. Despite his own pride and bravery, he seemed too terrified to look. He slowly turned around...

And saw the face of his late grandpa,

"...Grandpa...?" He whispered, tears beginning to stream down his face. He got to his feet and hugged him, struggling to catch his breath,

"I... I've missed you, Grandpa!" He cried, sobbing. He hugged him tightly, sniffling as he tried to regain his composure, "It's been a few months... but it feels like forever!"

His grandfather did not reply, but still hugged him.

"It's not the same- I'm not the same... things have gotten worse and it's out of my control! You were the only one who understood! Why did you have to go, Grandpa!" He cried out, clenching onto the very snazzy shirt he once remembered him wearing at a restaurant.

"Ethan... I understand you are still hurting and are upset. But you have to remember one thing; just because I have left the earth, doesn't mean I have popped out of existence. I live on spiritually. Even if this meeting is not real... you will see me again someday. And you know I want you to hold onto that..." He kissed Ethan's forehead gently, letting him see his beautiful smile one more time, "I am always with you."

Ethan tried to wipe his tears away, but fresh ones quickly replaced the old ones, "I know... but... I love you so much... and... I just want everything to stop and for me to see you again..."

"Ethan... you are my legacy... and I believe you will carry on that legacy for me..." He whispered, lifting up a shaky hand to wipe a tear away.

"I want to be just like you, Grandpa!" Ethan sniffled, smiling back at him. Before he knew it, the world around Ethan was crumbling again, and he was launched back into-

* * *

Ethan's eyes fluttered open. He seemed to be in a hotel room, he observed as he glanced around. He was sweating slightly, his eyes were all watery, and he was in so much pain from the fight.

He felt something on his shoulder, and glanced over at it.

It was none other than his best friend, perfectly okay and sleeping soundly on his shoulder.

Ethan laughed, not loud enough for anyone to hear but himself, now understanding why he was always being teased about being with someone who was perfect for him...

Somehow, he knew everything would be okay.

* * *

 **A/N: I know this went dark very quickly... first off, I would like to apologize for my absence.**

 **I recently lost my grandfather and my hero a few weeks ago and I still am recovering. He was a very important part of my life and I'm going to miss him dearly until I see him again- Anyways, moving on from personal business.**

 **I wanted to write this chapter because I didn't have motivation to immediately jump back into the CORE but I also wanted to write something. And Ethan kinda understands his crush on Harmony now.**

 **Also, yes, if you were paying attention, Ethan is religious. I hope that just because he is religious doesn't mean your view on him changes negatively. I understand most of my readers probably aren't, but I swear I'm not someone who mentions religion every chapter in a story that's based on something that doesn't relate to religion. Also, I've gotten guest reviews criticizing me for my faith, so don't bother to leave one or it'll just get deleted. I personally come from a religious family and my grandparents were religious people, so I modeled Ethan's grandpa and grandma after them. Ethan, as you can tell, does not mention religion every five seconds and I intend on keeping it this way. I apologize if any part of this chapter offended any of you.**

 **The italicized bits were his memories, the normal text at the beginning is a dream. The end is real, to clear this up.**

 **Not everything in here is 100% based off of me. I'm not from a rich family, nor have my family members ever treated me terribly. My parents, siblings, cousins, aunts, and uncles are amazing! So please understand that even if most of this relates to me not all of it does.**

 **I also know this is sudden, but I am going to rewrite this story alongside the Next Gen story I have planned. I have improved a lot and want to rewrite a few parts to make everything smoother. Also I've been questioning my ships (except Ethan and Harmony because they are adorable).**

 **I'm not entirely sure when the next update will be now that school's starting. Apologies in advance.**

 **~Ninja**


	35. OH YES

**A/N: AYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY it's me I'm back *fingerguns*. Welllllllllll your lazy author didn't want to write the CORE so pretend it happened. Sorry for the delay, I haven't been very motivated to write and I've been busy. THIS STORY CAN'T END :(. Anyways here you go**

* * *

 **CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX**

 **.:AIDEN:.**

"Slow down, would you?"

Aiden rolled his eyes at Ethan's comment, "Rich coming from you, Ethan." He was waiting at the doorway to what the group assumed would be another leg to the CORE.

"I don't know if I can take much more. I'm feeling really worn out..." Harmony admitted, panting as she caught up with the group. Ethan tapped his foot as he caught up, "I do so much moving around during my fights, it's hard to do so much of it over and over again!"

"Pssh." Ivan folded his arms, although he agreed with Harmony. The battles in the CORE had been the most intense ones yet.

"There's still more?" Emily blurted, putting a hand to her head, "I was hoping we were actually done." She sighed, lowering her frying pan.

Frisk just stood there. She was actually there first, just not rushing the others to catch up. She nodded to Emily's remark as the seven agreed to continue,

"-so when we're done with this next part of the CORE, we'll take a rest. But, as always, in shifts. Just in case a monster attacks..." Aiden told everyone the plan again and let the author write it because it's probably working for the plot.

"So... I guess this is where we continue..." Harmony peered into the darkness, swallowing, "Who will go-"

"Alright, let's go!" Ethan interrupted, disappearing into the next room.

"Wait! Don't leave us behind!" Harmony complained, chasing after him.

And so the group continued.

—/

"OH YES!" A voice said from in the dark, "THERE YOU DARLINGS ARE!"

"No way." Tessa's voice echoed through the room.

"Yes way." Ivan sighed, pushing up his glasses in the dark.

The lights flickered on, "It's time to have our showdown! It's time for you seven to finally stop the 'malfunctioning' robot!" He announced before laughing, "-NOT! Malfunctioning? Reprogramming? Get real. All of this was a big show! An act! Alphys has been playing all of you for fools all this time!"

"I called it, this is a plot twist they would try to put in an anime. I have a great plot twist detector." Ivan didn't seem shocked, answering with his weird nerd logic.

"As she watched you on the big screen, she grew oh so attached to an adventure of not just one, but seven humans. She wanted to be a part of it, so she inserted herself in your story!"

"Dinosaur lady was a fraud?" Ethan gasped, feeling instantly betrayed.

"She reactivated puzzles, disabled elevators-"

"Wait. She was the reason we all got hurt? That's just... ugh!" Ethan groaned as he connected the dots, "Why didn't I understand sooner?"

"She just wanted to save you all from the dangers that never actually existed, and she enlisted me to help you. All so you guys would think she was a good person."

"But... she didn't need to do that. We could've been friends, even without all of that danger!" Tessa insisted, scuffing her shoes against the floor as she looked down.

"I mean, she went through so much trouble only because she was worried about us. She wasn't mean or anything! Really nice, actually..." Emily tried adding. Harmony agreed, as well as Ivan, who decided to write this all down.

Aiden, however, felt less sympathetic. She was the one who put all of them in so much danger- and made him worried about the others for no reason!

"Now, it's time for her finest hour! Right now, at this very moment, she is waiting for you outside. While we are 'fighting' she will interrupt and deactivate me, 'saving' you one last time. That'll make her the heroine of your adventure. You'll love her so much, she'll convince you to never leave... or not. You see, I've had enough of this predictable charade. I have zero desire to harm humans. Far from it, really. My only desire... my only want... is to entertain!"

Emily tapped her fingers together, "W-What do you mean when you say 'entertain?'"

"After all, the audience- or should I say reader- deserves a good show! And what is a good show with no plot twist?"

"That's what makes anime so good, Aiden." Ivan stuck out his tongue at his brother. Aiden made a "Pssh" noise as a reply and crossed his arms.

There was a click, signifying the door had been locked, "H-Hey! W-w-what's going on? The door just... locked itself!" Alphys started banging on the door.

"SORRY, FOLKS! The old program has been CANCELED! But we've got a finale which will drive you WILD!" The platform below them shifted, shooting up. This caught everyone off guard as Aiden narrowly caught Emily when she fell backward. Tessa, pale, squeaked, while Harmony was just trying to keep her own balance. Frisk stood there.

"This, OH YES, this will have REAL DRAMA! REAL ACTION! AND REAL BLOODSHED!"

"Plot just got real." Frisk gasped, asking a question she knew the answer to, "What's this show called!"

"ON A NEW TV SHOW- CALLED 'ATTACK OF THE KILLER ROBOT'!"

Chara chuckled, finally making an appearance when the crew was launched into battle, "Mettaton attacks."

"You... you were the one who sent all of the CORE monsters to attack us!" Aiden realized, stepping back and cocking his gun. Everything could've been so much easier! We could've already been home!

"Oh, yes, I rearranged the CORE- I hired everyone to try and kill you!"

"...that was you?" Ethan seemed horrified for a moment, remembering when he and Harmony tried to fight two of the monsters, "...! I'LL KILL YOU!"

"It was a short-sighted plan, for certain. But you know what would be better?"

There was a gunshot that zoomed past Mettaton's boxy body.

"Killing you myself!"

Tessa jumped at the sound of the gunshots, "W-Wait, I know it won't hurt him, but save your bullets!" She exclaimed, "Why waste them when-"

"That worthless peashooter doesn't work on me, darling. Don't you understand what acting it?"

"Listen, darling. I've you seen how you and your friends fight. If you continue forward, ASGORE will take your souls. With all of your souls, ASGORE will destroy humanity."

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Aiden growled, shooting at him anyways. Ivan deflected the Minitons with his notebook. Harmony gracefully dodged them, while Ethan not-so-gracefully ran around recklessly to dodge them. Emily used her frying pan to bat them away. And Frisk... well, Frisk was being Frisk.

"But if I can get your souls, I'll stop ASGORE's plan. I can save humanity from destruction. Using your souls, I can cross the barrier- and I'll become the star I've always dreamed of being! Hundreds- no, thousands, no, MILLIONS of humans will watch me!"

"Can we watch it from the Under- oh wait we'd be dead." Ethan cut himself off, going quiet.

"How do we even know your intentions are pure...?" Tessa exclaimed, wary.

"Glitz, glamour, I'll finally have it all! So what if a few humans have to die? That's show business, baby."

"I-I can't see what's going on in there, b-but don't give up, okay?" It was Frisk who answered the phone.

"Why... why are you talking to her?" Aiden glared at Frisk. Ethan's expression asked the same thing, except he didn't say anything at all.

"Th...there's one l-l-last way to beat Mettaton... it's... um..."

"Just tell us, lady!" Ethan yelled at the phone (not into it, just at it... like I would).

"O-Okay... this is a work-in-progress, so don't judge it too hard... but you know how Mettaton always faces forward? That's because there's a switch on his backside. If you press the switch, he'll be... um..." Alphys tried explaining the whole situation with Mettaton when Ethan just decided to cut her off.

"METTATON, IS THAT A MIRROR BEHIND YOU!" Ethan interrupted, pointing, suddenly hoping it would work. Harmony deadpanned. What idiot uses that as a distraction?

"Oh, a mirror? Thank you, I must look perfect for our grand finale!" He turned around, an arrow pointing to his switch labeled "SWITCH" on his back, "Hm, I don't see it... where is it?" Ethan stuck his tongue out at Harmony when she looked over again, speechless. She didn't have words.

There was a moment of silence when Aiden flipped his switch.

"Did you. Just flip. My switch?"

"..." Aiden didn't reply, just giving him a stare. The group didn't say anything either.

Mettaton started going crazy, the transformation so intense it blew a fuse.

"Well, that's one way to-" Ivan began, about to be a tiny bit impressed that he could be shut off that easily.

 _"OH YESSSSS!"_

"Oh... no..." Emily whispered, cringing. Harmony deadpanned AGAIN. Tessa blinked. Ivan, now, was NOT impressed. He was intrigued, but not impressed.

"Ohhhhh my. If you flipped my switch, that only means one thing. You're desperate for the premiere of my new body..."

"Ew." Was all Ethan said as two spotlights flickered on and pointed at Mettaton. There was a bunch of smoke, which was why the group could only see his silhouette.

"How rude... lucky for you, I've been aching to show this off such a long time. So... as thanks, I'll give you a handsome reward."

"Is it money?" Ethan hoped. After breaking his iPhone while he was Underground, he was desperate for some cash. His family was rich, but that didn't mean he got EVERYTHING.

"I'll make your last living moments..." the smoke cleared to reveal a sexy robot, "ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL!" And then the battle continued.

Harmony did a tour en l'air (I'd say look it up but it's essentially jumping and then twirling midair), which made the ratings go up and caused her to dodge Mettaton's legs. The audience cheered for the humans.

"oH darling, that's cute, but that's a move for beginners!" Mettaton copied the ballet move. The crowd gasped. Aiden shot at the legs to keep them away. Ivan's HP dropped, so he ate a Glamburger.

"MAKE THOSE RATINGS RISE, DARLINGS! THAT'S PERFECT, DO IT LIKE THAT!" He gestured to Ivan eating food. The audience loves the brand and cheers. So does the author.

"I'm eating food, why is this a big deal? And why is the author celebrating?"

"NAME-BRAND IS THE BEST BRAND!" The ninja yelled before jumping off the platform and disappearing again.

"SMILE FOR THE CAMERA DARLINGS!" He did a swift kick and hit a few of the children out of the way. Aiden kept shooting.

Dramatically, he snorted and boasted, "I'm not gonna get hit at ALL this turn."

"That's pushing your luck." Ivan remarked, rolling his eyes, "Sure, you're good at dodging, but not against Mettaton!"

"Fine, Tessa will take over then!" He pulled her over and put her in front of him like a shield.

"W-what?"

"Yep, Tessa won't get hurt at all this turn!" Aiden announced to the crowd, pointing at her.

"Ugh, you and your big mouth!" She facepalmed but actually didn't say that out loud. Just to herself, in her head.

"Good job, Aiden. You're making Tessa try to not let down an audience full of people because one thing I said scared you." Ivan pretty much summed up what Tessa wanted to say to him. Mettaton directed all of his attacks on Tessa.

"But how are you on the dance floor?" She narrowly dodged the attack, making herself more anxious by the second. The ratings rose when the attack ended and she was undamaged.

"Great job, Tessa!" Emily cheered, taking over for the next attack.

Frisk did a dramatic dance move, turning on her heel and scoffing at the audience. The ratings were at 10000 now. As Aiden shot at the heart in Mettaton's belt, his arms both fell off. Frisk was busy being fabulous.

"Pop quiz! What's the BEST thing about Mettaton?"

"Um... hair...?"

"LEGS!"

"You have good... eyeballs..."

"Face."

"I think everything is nice!"

"Nothing."

"DO I HAVE TO CHOOSE?!"

The author didn't add tags so you could guess who said what. Anyways, the show continued with an armless Mettaton.

"DARLINGS YOU'RE ALL RIGHT! AND WHO NEEDS ARMS WITH LEGS LIKE THESE? I'LL STILL WIN!" He sang as he sent another attack. Everyone dodged.

Frisk, through all of this, was having such a good time. Chara just floated there, thinking differently.

As the ratings increased to 12,000, Mettaton suddenly stopped the fight, "OH MY! This is the most viewers I've ever had! We've reached the viewer call-in point!"

"Oh wait, I forgot we're on TV!" Ethan shoved Mettaton out of the way, "Hi, Grandma, I'm on the air!" He said before Mettaton moved him out of the camera's view.

"One lucky viewer will have the chance to talk to me-"

"And ME!" Ethan declared, putting himself back in the picture.

"My, my darling, you're still not ready for a camera! As I was saying, you'll get to talk to me before I leave the Underground forever! Let's wait for who calls in first!" Silence fell across the room, everyone pretty much frozen in their positions as they waited for a call.

"Hi, you're on air! What do you have to say about this on our last show!" Mettaton spoke to the viewer when they picked up.

"...oh... hi... mettaton... my life is pretty boring... but... seeing you on screen... brought excitement to my life... vicariously. i can't tell, but i guess this is the last episode...? i'll miss you, mettaton... oh... i didn't mean to talk so long... oh..." He seemed on the verge of hanging up.

"No, wait! Wait! Bl... he... they hung up..." Mettaton sighed, "I'll take another caller..."

"Mettaton, your show made us so happy!"

"Mettaton, I don't know what I'll watch without you!"

"Mettaton, this is leaving a Mettaton shaped hole in my heart..."

"METTATON, HUMANS! SOME OF MY FAVORITE PEOPLE TOGETHER AT THE SAME TIME!" A cheery voice came through before being cut off.

"Ah... I... I see... everyone... thank you so much. Darlings... perhaps it might be best if I stay here for a while... humans, they already have stars and idols, but monsters... they only have me... if I left, the Underground would lose its spark. I'd leave an aching hole that could never be filled. So... I think I'll have to delay my big debut. Besides, you've all proven to be VERY strong. Probably even strong enough to get past Asgore... I'm certain you'll protect humanity! Ha, ha... it's all for the best anyways... the truth is, this form's energy consumption is...inefficient. In a few moments, I'll run out of battery power, and... well, I'll be alright. Knock 'Em dead darlings, and thank you, everyone. You've been a marvelous audience." Delivering a heartfelt speech, Mettaton lost his legs as well and the platform began shaking and falling back down to where it was originally. Obviously, the battle had ended. Everyone fell over from the sudden drop.

"I-I managed to open the lock! Are you two..." Her voice trailed off as she rushed over, "Oh my gosh, Mettaton! Mettaton, are you..."

There was a moment of silence.

"Thank GOD, it's just his batteries. Mettaton, if you were gone, I would've... would've... I-I mean, hey, it's no problem, you know? He's just a robot... if you messed it up, I could always... build another. Go on ahead, alright...?" She didn't say anything else. The group, after apologizing, left the room.

"S-Sorry about that...! Let's keep going." Awkwardly, the seven humans kept walking. None of them said anything because of how weird it was.

"Liar," Aiden mumbled.

"W-what?"

"About everything." Aiden stopped walking to look at her, "It was all a lie."

"I-I'm really sorry about that too... I thought maybe you'd like me a little better if I..."

"You weren't being yourself? Been there." Harmony kicked at the ground with a soft sigh.

"Y-Yeah..."

"It's okay. A wrong move, but we all make those." Ethan shrugged. He actually wasn't being a complete idiot for once. Ivan was kinda shocked at such wise words.

"I agree." Harmony then nodded along with everyone except Aiden.

"Fine." Aiden nodded too.

"S-so... you're all about to meet Asgore... You must be... y-you must be... e-excited, Huh?"

Still not replying, Frisk shook her head solemnly as they kept going.

"Not to fight..." Emily frowned.

"F-Finally... finally, you'll get to go home!"

"That... that's what I'm excited about." Harmony grinned slightly, "My brother is probably worried sick about me... I miss the little guy..."

"Stuck with my parents. Amazing." Ethan groaned, slamming his face into the wall.

"Mhm..." Tessa murmured.

"Right..." Aiden said, still not eager to speak with her as the elevator door opened.

"W-Wait!"

As he was about to step foot inside, he looked over. So did the others.

"I was just going to... um.. say goodbye, and..."

"And?" Aiden pressured.

"I can't take this anymore." Alphys turned away from them, "I... I lied to you. A human soul isn't strong enough to cross the barrier... it takes a human soul and a monster soul... Even if you do want to go home... you'll have to kill Asgore... you'll have to take his soul... a...nd... since his soul is one of the few that persists a few seconds after death... only one of you can go home...you can't shatter the barrier unless you're all dead..." Alphys hiccuped, turning around, "I'm sorry." She slowly walked away, eventually out of sight.

"No way... that's impossible..." Harmony choked, at a loss for words, "Even if we win, we lose?"

"We... we can't all go home. Just one of us. Only... one..." Tessa slunk to her knees, holding her head in her hands, "It's not fair... we should be able to all go home!"

"I... can do this. I'll stay down here with whoever else is with it." Emily stood up tall, "It's fine." She walked into the elevator.

"I...I think Frisk should go home." Harmony remarked after a moment's thought, "After all, without her we wouldn't even be alive... also... I don't want to leave by myself... I'd be better off here..."

"True. I vote Frisk too." Ivan agreed, holding his notebook at his side.

"Hm. Then I'll stay down here too. After all, SOMEONE has to protect you guys." Ethan folded his arms, smirking, "I don't really care who goes."

"It would be right for Frisk to go, that's something we all agree on." Aiden put his gun back in his holster, "Like Ethan says, someone's gotta protect the group. Plus, I don't think I could leave without Ivan." Aiden held his brother close to him. Ivan rolled his eyes, but smiled anyways.

"That means... are you good with going, Frisk?" Tessa asked her, pressing a floor's button in the elevator as the doors closed.

"Someone has to do it."

The elevator stopped and the kids got out of it.

"Can we take a break? I'm tired..." Tessa yawned, rubbing at her eyes.

"We should... spend one last night together before we go home. You know... before our adventure's over." Ivan agreed.


	36. This Is It (Asgore Part 1)

**CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN**

"Fitting we get one last walk together. What about one last conversation together?"

The seven humans walked down the path to where they assumed the barrier- and Asgore- would be. None of them got sleep like they really wanted, but it was now or never.

"You say that like we're going to die, Iv. We're not going to die," Ethan pounded his fist into his hand, "We're going to get there and beat that bas-"

Harmony glared at him silently.

"That bad guy." He grinned, trying to fake innocence- and break the ice between everyone. If it was going to be the end for all of them, Ethan wanted the last conversation they had to count and not feel like it had so much riding on it.

"...how are you not afraid of dying?" Harmony whispered, suddenly feeling more homesick than she had ever been on the whole journey, "We aren't invincible, we never have been. We're going to die, don't you get it? We aren't going to get home and we never were. We were doomed to this place ever since we set foot in that cave... doomed to fall and never see our families again."

"You're awfully blunt for a cute little ballerina," Chara commented, tapping his chin, "Perhaps that would've been better to keep to yourself?"

"It would if it wasn't true," Tessa cut in and kept walking, not letting anyone see her hidden face, "I won't count on anyone to kill him. I'll count on myself. After all, fear is just a drive to try harder, isn't it? Or something like Ethan said."

"You don't need to doubt our ability to do this, you two! You're being cynical, but this will be fine. Being pessimistic won't give us any better chance of defeating Asgore. It'll hurt our chances. Come on!" Emily tried to encourage, holding her fists close to her heart.

"Optimism won't help either. What are you happy about, Em? Happy we're going to kill someone?" Tessa said darkly, "This isn't a game. This is real."

"Break it up, guys." Aiden stepped between them, "It doesn't matter right now. Let's just do our best."

Nobody spoke, but Harmony held onto Ethan's hand.

To Harmony's dismay, he didn't seem to care.

"Frisk? Are you coming?"

Frisk nodded, putting the Worn Dagger in her pocket as they moved away from New Home. She was wearing Chara's old locket.

The group stepped into the long hall. Where they spotted a shadow...

Sans.

"Sans?" Tessa questioned, a little surprised to see him for some reason.

"So you finally made it. The end of your journey is at hand. In the next few moments, you're going to meet the king. All of you will determine the future of this world... that will be then. Now."

"Now what?"

"You will be judged. Every action you seven made. Judged for any EXP you have ever gained."

"What does EXP mean?" Emily asked innocently, tilting her head to the side.

"An acronym. Do you know what it stands for?"

"No..."

"It stands for 'execution points.' It quantifies the pain you've inflicted on others. When you kill someone, your EXP increases. With enough of it, your LOVE will rise. LOVE, too, is an acronym. One which stands for 'level of violence.' It's the measurement of the capacity to hurt." The more you kill, the easier it is to distance yourself. The more you distance yourself, the less you will hurt. The more you can bring yourself to hurt others. but you seven... you never gained any LOVE. not in this timeline. doesn't make you completely innocent or naive either," he took a moment to glance at Frisk and Chara, "it just matters you kept a certain tenderness in your hearts. no matter the struggles or hardships you faced, you still strived to do the right thing. you refused to hurt anyone. even when running away, you could still smile. you never gained LOVE, but you still gained love. does that make any sense?"

Emily nodded. So did the rest of them. Frisk didn't comment.

"but you're about to face the greatest challenge of your entire journey. your actions here... will decide the fate of our world. if you don't fight, Asgore will take all of your souls and destroy humanity. but if you do kill him... monsters will still remain underground with six of you. so what will you agree on? well, i would've thrown in the towel if i were in your position. but you seven just never gave up, did you?"

"Of course we didn't, we're awesome!" Ethan pumped his fist.

"that's right. that's because you all have determination. and as long as you can hold on- as long as you do what you think is right in your heart- i believe you will do the right thing. we're counting on you, kiddos. good luck."

"Thanks..." Tessa waved as he disappeared behind a pillar.

He was gone.

Soon enough, they were ready to turn into the next room- the throne room.

"This is it," Frisk held the locket in her hand, "This is where we end this." She declared once and for all.

"Hey... thanks for everything, you know?" Aiden managed to smile, "Just in case we don't make it. Thanks for helping the six of us, Frisk," he held out his hand, "We'll meet you there someday."

Frisk shook his hand, "I'll wait then."

"Well, let's do this."

"Wait! Where's... where's Chara?" Emily looked around to try and find him.

"Unfortunately, he's not here for this. I'll tell him what you said."

"Will he still be with us Underground?"

"No... he will fade."

"..." Emily frowned to herself when hearing that, "I...I see." Emily may not have known him well, but she did know his backstory and she really wanted to tell him thank you and that she wanted to help him.

Ethan glanced at everyone before turning the corner. Harmony took in a deep breath before following after him. Ivan did as well. Emily and Aiden were at his side.

"..." Tessa stared at Frisk hesitantly before finally entering with a nod.

"Hum dee dum..." The king was bent over, watering his flowers. When he heard the footsteps, he stopped. He knew it was time.

"I want to say, 'would you like a cup of tea?' but... you get how it is," the deep voice sighed as he got up from his knees, "It's a nice day out, isn't it? Birds are singing- flowers are blooming. It's a perfect day for a game of catch."

He turned to them, "You... you know what we must do. When you are ready, meet me in the next room." His cloak flowing behind him, he disappeared into the next room.

The group trailed after him. Everyone was feeling the tension- waiting for him to turn around and just attack them right then and there, even if that wasn't what Asgore was like at all.

"You don't need to be so tense... just think of this as a visit to the dentist."

"A dentist we're going to kill..." Ethan muttered under his breath, still on edge.

"Are you ready?"

No reply.

"If not, I understand. I am not ready either."

That's when Frisk passed up the final SAVE point.

The shimmering barrier in front of Asgore may have been what captivated the kids the most.

"Humans... this is the barrier. This is what keeps us monsters underground. If you have any unfinished business, you... please do what you must."

"We're ready, Asgore," Ethan's eyes glinted, slowly flipping out the pocket knife that he was holding in his hand, "Bring it."

* * *

"Harmony. Take this." Frisk whispered, slipping the worn dagger into her hand.

"Don't you need it?"

"I have other weapons."

"..."

* * *

"I... I see. This is it, then," Asgore turned around coldly, the seven empty containers appearing before them.

A strange light fills the room. Twilight is shining through the barrier. It seems this journey is finally over.

"It was... nice to meet you. Goodbye."

His expression darkening, his trident came out of his cloak. And then it shattered the MERCY button.

It was time.

Asgore sent his first attack. Frisk slid to the side, dodging it. Tessa attacked weakly with her toy knife.

 _What are you doing?_

Ethan grimaced, sliding the blade of his knife across his arm before dodging an attack by jumping backwards.

Harmony didn't do anything, just shaking with the knife in her hand.

 _Am I gonna have to stab him?_

Emily shook her head as she deflected the fireball attacked.

 _I won't kill anyone._

Aiden put both hands on his gun and fired.

 _I have to do this._

Frisk suddenly summoned her sword.

"What the hell...?" Aiden stopped firing to watch her, "What... the hell..."

"..."

* * *

"We're not doing anything!" Emily shrieked, shaking, "It's not working! The plan's failing!"

"We can't give up yet!" Aiden replied, looking over at her, "We don't have a choice!"

"Are you going to do something or just let yourself be an easy target, Tessa?" Ethan asked sharply, his HP dropping, "You're not helping when you're just standing there!"

"Toriel... she wouldn't want us to fight." Tessa told herself out loud, "She'd want me to- spare him... even if..."

 _Even if it means I have to die._

"If you won't fight, get behind me!" Aiden shoved Tessa behind him, the gunshots ringing in her ears as his desperation rose to make a dent in his HP.

"Just stay there, I have a whole gun full of bullets and I'll get through him before he can get through me." Aiden commanded, both of his feet planted in the ground as he kept consistent with his fire.

 _I don't want to die._ Tessa thought to herself, still behind Aiden, _I can't stay down here._

The blood from the newly formed cuts on her body made her more anxious.

 _I won't do this._

Suddenly, everything made sense. Running away from home. Following their friends to Mt. Ebott. Their fall. Leaving Toriel. Their journey. It was all preparing her for this very moment.

She smiled in understanding and put the toy knife in her pocket, stepping forward. Passing Aiden. Passing Harmony. Passing Ethan.

"Tessa, what the hell are you doing?" Aiden yelled, still holding the gun pointed at him, "Get back here and let me fire."

"It's okay, Aiden. I understand now. I understand what I'm meant to do. I could never stay here Underground... not for longer than we already have. It all makes sense to me. I won't give in to LOVE," she held out her arms, tears running down her face,

"It's okay. It'll be okay. I surrender my life- and my soul- to the monsters. Flowey was right. It's kill or be killed," she let out a small sob, "I'm so sorry."

" _TESSA!"_

Eyes going lifeless, Tessa fell backward as she was stabbed in the chest. Blood soaked the front of her dress. Ivan's eyes widened in shock. Harmony gasped and covered her mouth. Emily couldn't say anything. Ethan felt like a total failure.

Aiden knew he broke his promise.

They weren't playing around anymore.

* * *

 **A/N: YEP this definitely escalated fast, don't question it I was running out of dialogue. I'm so sorry this chapter was so delayed lol but it was rip. Anyways later guys**


	37. Bergentrückung

**A/N: Warning. Mentions of blood and death are in the chapter, it's only a little gorey. I should've also said that before I killed off Tessa, heh heh...**

 **All of the readers: I can't believe you've done this.**

 **CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT**

"Ugh, if only I was trying harder!" Ethan cursed, closing his knife. He threw it behind him. Ivan caught it, looking at him confusedly,

"I should've done what I'm best at in the first place. Fighting with my fists!"

Blocking the others out, he focused on fighting Asgore and fighting Asgore alone. As long as it meant the safety of his other friends- as long as it meant he didn't have to watch another person die- that was all that mattered. His eyes were glowing. It wasn't just his bravery fueling him; it was this feeling of determination. Knowing everything was riding on it- how every punch brought him closer to the end of this nightmare- it only kept him going.

Preventing more death from occurring- he was certain that was what Tessa would've wanted.

And that was what he would do. After all, he was the only one capable of protecting them when Aiden was still in shock and out of it.

Besides, what was a few EXP, one level of violence? He just needed to kill one monster, so what if it took away his pacifism? It was to get Frisk to the surface- to keep his friends- no, Harmony- safe.

Simply watching it was causing tears to well up in Harmony's eyes. She was in fear of him making a mistake, even if he had kept assuring her he knew what he was doing.

But because he was too foolish- so quick to believe that was all he needed to survive, he didn't even notice the attack coming right towards him.

"...!" All he could hear were quick footsteps as he hit the ground. He tried pushing himself up- he wanted it to work. But he knew he was already bleeding out and it was pointless in trying anymore.

"Ethan...!" Harmony slid to the ground in front of him, holding him up with one of her arms, "N-no... this can't be real... I... I don't want this!"

He coughed, shaking his head ever so slightly. He reached his hand up and placed it on hers, "Y-You know...? I-I've never really thought I could make a b-best friend w-who d-didn't just d-do it f-for my money. A-And then you came a-along. D-Don't worry about me. It doesn't hurt too much. I-I want you to kill him."

"I can't! I can't do anything without you! I'm not anything without you! You have to hold on, p-please," she hiccuped, shaking him a little, "S-Stay with me, please." She begged, Aiden shooting at Asgore again to defend her.

"S-sorry. B-But a-all that matters is t-that I p-protected you... and... I..." His breath stopped short, but he still pushed through, blood dripping out of the side of his mouth,

"I-I...l-love you."

"N-no, wait!"

He was limp. Her hands were covered in blood.

Ethan's red, sticky blood.

"N-no... n-no..." Harmony held onto his shirt, "N-no... _no_..." she tried shaking him conscious, as if he were just sleeping. Her heart shattered when realization finally struck.

"Get over it."

"W-what?"

"I said get over it." Aiden's stare was icy as he folded his arms, "He's dead. There's nothing you or I can do about it. Just like Tessa." He didn't spend time grieving Tessa or Ethan- he was going to wait until it was over. If he could hold it in, he was (stubbornly) thinking Harmony could do the same.

"B-But I..."

"Are you going to help us? Or did Ethan die for you for nothing?" He said coldly, not even looking at her as he decided to fire. Emily glared at him from across the battlefield- and he knew perfectly well that she was.

"..."

Harmony gently set down his body, putting his arms at his sides and closing his eyes. She rose to her feet, her arm out at her side.

The Worn Dagger was in her grip.

That's when she started slashing at Asgore in a series of attacks, laughing to herself, "Sans was right. The more you harm, the less pain you'll feel. It doesn't matter how much I harm someone, does it?" she looked at the others, holding up the knife, "As long as I get rid of the pain entirely."

"That's not the right way to think, Harmony!" Emily shook her head in dismay, trying to call out to her friend, "Do you really believe causing misery upon someone else is going to help you?"

"Quiet, Emily." Harmony tore the blade across his shoulder. His HP dropped. But she didn't stop there. She just kept in that range, stabbing him constantly. His health points were decreasing rapidly- he was below a third of his health.

"Harmony, please stop...!" Ivan was losing it as it was, watching Harmony drive herself to insanity- well, it was making him feel worse and worse.

"Harmony... how ironic, isn't it? The word harm is even in my name." Her attacks didn't stop, even if her HP kept dropping everytime she landed a meaningful hit. The burning image of Ethan's death replayed and lingered in her mind, only making her go more mad.

Asgore formed a fireball in his paw, clutching his chest with the other one.

"Harm really does cancel out the pain if you're focused enough on it," Harmony smiled at the others gaily, her eyes a dull and emotionless blue, "I can't feel anything!"

That was when she felt the fireball that smashed into her face.

"Ah, shit..." Harmony hit the wall as half of her face was charred black. She got back to her feet again, "At least we did everything we could, huh, Ethan..." There was blood trickling down the side of her face. Her shirt and tutu were torn at this point. She was certain that within the next ten seconds, she would be dead.

And right she was when she was burnt to a crisp by the next fireball. Emily seemed even more horrified.

"I can't do this." Emily stopped, choking, looking at Asgore, "I can't fight... I hate fighting. I want to speak for a moment... if I don't convince you, you can kill me. Deal?" She was trying her best not to look upset, but the lump in her throat when she spoke was all that was needed for anyone to tell she was losing it.

"Emily, don't do it that's a terrible-"

"I know what I'm doing Ivan. If it doesn't work, then... I'm really sorry, okay?" she turned back to Asgore, "Asriel and Chara wouldn't have wanted this... and neither do I. So please... let the three of us stay underground freely... we'll help you even find a way to the surface! We can put the past behind us, and... we can make our friends proud. Wouldn't that be something...?" She sniffled, wiping her eyes with her sleeve, hoping for a response or for him to be just as willing to give in as she was.

When Asgore didn't reply, Emily simply smiled to herself, "Guess... it didn't convince you. They were right when they said kindness wouldn't help you in this world," She shut her eyes, seeing her future which was nothing but darkness, "So do your worst. I probably deserve it."

One fireball was all it took to wipe out Emily. And the last thing Ivan remembered seeing from the final glance she gave him was the despair, fear, and misery in her eyes- and that fear of not knowing what was coming next was something Ivan knew tore Emily apart.

"No!" Ivan put his head in his hands, "This is insane... I was such a fool for believing we could escape the Underground. That's just it... I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die," he started muttering a bunch of insults, "I should've been in Erin's position, I should've just died years ago. She would've never been this stupid, she would've never suggested climbing the mountain or agreeing to go up there... everyone would be alive if it weren't for me. It isn't right..."

"Ivan..." Aiden stepped in front of him, grabbing him by the shoulders, "Please. Ivan. I'll die before I let you die. You're not going to die, got it? And Erin would hate to hear you speak that way, so just... I need you to stop thinking everything is your fault! It wasn't. None of this was your fault. Sometimes life just works the way it's meant too- sometimes your fate is just not the greatest. But Tessa, Ethan, Harmony, and Emily- do you know how much it hurts them to know you were struggling? They wouldn't want this, Ivan. They wouldn't want you to blame yourself. They'd want you to keep going until the end- that's what perseverance is, isn't it? Fighting against all odds. So even when the odds are against you, you can't just give up. You never have before and you can't now."

"I don't know if I believe you, Aiden..." It was probably the first time since Erin died that Aiden had seen Ivan this terrible, "...I want our friends back... but I suppose I am cursed with misfortune."

Aiden hugged him, quiet. He didn't say a word.

"I just... I want you to forgive me..." Ivan whispered, his eyes intently on Asgore.

"Forgive you for what?"

" _This_." Ivan shoved Aiden out of the Asgore's line of fire, getting burnt to a crisp by a fireball.

"Ivan, what are you-" His voice came to a stop as he watched his brother die. That was when he felt it. Vengeance. He wanted to get revenge. So he kept firing and firing, watching the HP bar decline with each bullet that hit the King's fur. Frisk joined in again. And that's when his gun stopped working- he couldn't tell if it was jammed, or if it simply was out of bullets. As Frisk continued attacking, Aiden fell to his knees, tilting his hat downwards. He knew it was the end, but still fiddled with his gun.

"...Aiden, get out of the way!" Frisk shouted, stumbling to her feet as she recovered from the attack. There was a flash- it was so quick that Frisk wasn't even sure if she saw it correctly.

Asgore had fallen to his knees. Aiden had the trident through his chest, his gun still pointed at the same spot he had shot it.

"Guess I had one bullet left..." He smiled solemnly, his empty hand on his bleeding chest, "Well... at least I know my life wasn't a complete waste. Good luck." There were a few more coughs and visibly he seemed to struggle to breathe until he stopped moving entirely.

Frisk approached Asgore, not saying anything at first to him. Charging up her sword, she went in for the final blow.

"Howdy!" She heard from behind him, just like the normal timeline always went for her, "It's me, Flowey the flower!"

Again, there was a flash as she readied herself (knowingly) for what would happen next.

* * *

 **Well, I just made a random idea on the spot. For Frisk sword, she has to charge up attacks, so she can't just be going ham on Asgore the whole time. Just in case you were wondering why she didn't seem to be helping the others all that much.**

 **Also, if you're wondering why I didn't drag out their deaths all that much- it already seemed depressing enough that they were dying so why make it worse by being more detailed than it already was.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	38. THE END

Frisk dodged another toy knife, waiting for the ACT button to appear.

 _Where is it?_

The wall of toy knives stood between her and Flowey, who was cackling at her struggling. Instead of his usual form, he had evolved into a mega monster- something Frisk called "Omega Flowey". He had absorbed the six souls- each petal was replaced with a metallic tube, each soul floating in the middle of one of them. One of the tubes was glowing cyan, indicating his control over Tessa's soul. His face was replaced with a TV screen, which now had the cyan soul on it. In red, bold writing, a sign saying "WARNING" glitched onto it and began flashing.

There was some of Tessa's tortured screaming as background music before he switched to a different child's soul.

Ethan's gloves materialized before her, along with the soul on screen. The tube around his soul also was glowing orange as well. The gloves moved in a circular motion towards her. She would have to weave through them to get to the ACT button, typically.

 _But it wasn't there._

Frisk still played along, growing more confused and worried about what the timeline was doing to itself.

The scene disappeared and was replaced with Harmony's attack sequence. And then Ivan's. And then Emily's. And finally, she had gotten to Aiden's. She seemed to be worn out- she had no way to recover HP without their help.

"What's wrong?" Flowey snickered, "Looking for the ACT button? Oh, that little gadget caused me _so_ much trouble the past million times! So I _**destroyed**_ it!" He broke into a fit of laughter again, one of his green, thorny arms going into her chest.

Frisk's HP bar drained to one. He pulled his arm out and she nearly fell backwards, struggling with so much blood loss. Her vision began to go a little wonky.

 _No… not now…_

She tried to lift her hand to press, "RESET."

Flowey shattered it.

"And without being able to ACT… the souls have no control over what they're doing. They can't

sense the pain you're in, how you feel. They can't rebel against me if they don't know what's going on. _Your soul and this WORLD will be mine!_ "

"..." The stain in her sweater began to get larger and larger. She was losing consciousness.

The six souls swirled around her.

 _HP: 20/20_

*Flowey's defense dropped to zero!*

 _Frisk… I know you can do it…_

 _KICK HIS ASS!_

 _You've got this!_

 _Your probability of success is rather high._

 _I believe in you!_

 _We're counting on ya, Frisk!_

The wounds faded and Frisk grinned, a spark in her eyes. She used her sword to cut through his hand. Flowey's form glitched. She kept consistent with her attacks, until…

 _HP: 1/20_

 _FILE 78990999999: SAVED_

"Were you expecting to be backed into a corner again?" Flowey chuckled, one of the thorny vines curling around her. There was no escape this time...

"I will save and reload your own _death!_ So you and your friends can deal with the pain of dying and watching you die over and over! It's like killing seven humans with one thorn!"

 _Death._

 _RELOADED._

 _Death._

 _RELOADED._

 _Death._

 _RELOADED._

 _Death._

 _RELOADED._

 _Death._

 _RELOADED_

 _Death._

 _RELOADED._

 _Death._

 _RELOADED._

Suddenly, a circle of Flowey's bullets surrounded her soul. Just like at the beginning. As they rushed towards her soul, she closed her eyes and tried to not think about it.

HP: 20/20

"W-what? What's going on? Where are my powers? The souls? What are they doing?" The six began to shake, as if to try and shift his control and the power he had over them.

" _NO! You can't do that! After so many runs… you're supposed to obey me! Stop! STOP IT! STOP!"_

There was a blinding flash of light as Flowey lost control.

And Frisk's whole world went dark.

* * *

"..."

"Frisk..." There was a familiar voice as she was nudged.

"..."

"Frisk, wake up." There's another one.

"..."

"Wake up, loser." Another.

"..."

"Please wake up...!" Another.

"..."

"Oh, come on..." Another.

"I GOT THIS!" And- wait, was that-

"OW!"

"Slapping them works every time, heh." When she opened her eyes, it was Ethan in front of her, with a satisfied signature grin. And the other five stood around him, relieved.

"Ow..." Frisk repeated as she put a hand to her head, her other hand helping her sit up, "What's going on?"

"Well, Frisk... I guess it's safe to say we're at the end." Aiden responded, tipping his hat, "Or… you are, really."

"Huh? Oh, yeah…" She remembered the events that had just went down.

"This is where we part. You're going to have to decide... reset, or continue to the surface one final time." He explained, his expression blank.

"...what do you guys think?"

"It's not important what we think, Frisk." He pointed out, looking away, "We died. We're not supposed to be a part of this world anymore."

"But.. I'd prefer your input."

"She's not gonna give in," there was a soft sigh from behind her. It was Chara, his red eyes shining. He was wearing a green hoodie with a yellow stripe across the center, "Too determined for that."

"I think we should vote." Tessa proposed, "And... we figure it out together. Whichever side has the most votes wins."

"Okay, why the hell not? I say she keeps going. Finishes the cycle. Once and for all." Ethan said, pulling his bandanna tight, "It's the best option."

"So one vote to move forward..." Frisk waited for someone else to speak.

"I don't like that idea... it's not the best ending we can get. I say we go back." Emily countered, folding her hands, "Like… I dunno…"

"Agreed. Only a fool would want to move forward..."

"Well, guess we're on different sides of the argument, Iv. I think we best end this." Aiden looked at his empty gun, sighing.

"Harmony?"

"I saw every timeline... every time we died... I don't want to suffer through that again... I don't want any of us to... I'm with Ethan and Aiden."

"Tessa...?"

"I... I don't like the idea of moving forward. If we go back, we can get the right ending... the one you want." After that, she fell quiet again and didn't say anything.

"Hey, guess that means it's an even split. So, Frisk. What do you choose?" Chara asked, his eyes gleaming

"I... I'm not sure."

"Well, we can wait. We aren't going anywhere."

"What about you, Chara?"

"...I'll wait for you to make your decision to make mine."

"Okay... I want to... continue..."

"Chara?"

"I'm with Frisk."

"So then... we do it together, one and all?" Emily asked.

"Yeah... we got into this mess together... we're gonna get out of it together."

A moment of silence passed across the group.

"Hey, Frisk? Before you go, I want you to have something..."

Tessa took her ribbon out of her hair, brushing it off, "When someone doubts you were here... or that you've found us..." She tied it around Frisk's wrist, "You prove them wrong..."

"Hey, I like said idea." Ethan took off his bandanna, smoothing his hair back over where the bandanna once was, "Here, ya punk."

"To be fair, I'm older than you," Frisk smirked, "But whatever."

"Well, to be fair, this seems like a thing now." Harmony slipped off her ballet slippers. Ethan snorted.

"What's so funny?" She folded her arms after Frisk took the slippers.

He snickered, "Your feet are tiny." It even sounded funnier to him out loud.

"No, they aren't-"

"They kinda are." Ivan chimed in.

"This is supposed to be sweet, stop commenting on my foot size!"

"But they are!" Ethan argued.

"Well, my shoes are better than a sweaty bandanna!"

"Hey! I can't even sweat here, so it's perfectly clean!"

Emily laughed, "Huh, right up to the end you two are still being ridiculous."

"No, we aren't!" Both argued.

"I'm not the guy for this mushy stuff, but I'm more so asking a favor of you rather than giving you something- sort of." He held out his notebook- the only possession he truly treasured.

"Iv… damn, I always thought you'd want to get buried with that thing." Aiden remarked, a little surprised he was so okay with giving it up.

"I want everyone to see what we've discovered here… it's an interesting contribution to our history. Proof that monsters exist." Frisk took it slowly.

"Hey, you can have my frying pan!"

"It hasn't even existed for half of the fanfic!"

"Ivan, stop breaking the fourth wallllllll!"

"And, of course, you can have my gun." Aiden held it out.

"For real? That thing makes up you in your entirety-" Ethan raised his eyebrows.

"Isn't that what all of this is given to her for? Ribbon was given to Tess a while ago, you've always had that bandanna, Harmony's a ballerina, Ivan's pretty much a scientist, Emily's a chef, and my gun is- well, me. Future police officer material. Well, I was." He said, remembering his dreams would never come true because he was dead.

Everyone looked to Chara.

"What, you're expecting something from me too?"

"...no…" Frisk lied, whistling and looking away.

"Fine, but you're annoying." He pulled a locket out of his pocket, "It's weird… Asriel must've wanted you to have this. I never had it as a ghost… so now I guess it's from me and Asriel. You know, if you don't treasure this locket, I WILL kill you. For real. I will come back from the dead to kill you." He pulled out a chain from in his hoodie, "So go out there and end this cycle."

Frisk hugged him. He only hugged her by force, "Ew… the hug's not floofy enough for my taste." He mumbled, letting her cling to him as long as she wanted.

She let go and looked at him again, "So, you guys are all okay with this?"

They all nodded.

"Thanks, guys. Honestly, I'll never forget you."

"You better not. I better be in all of the history books!"

"Of course you would want to, Ethan." Harmony sighed with a small grin.

All together, the eight of them hit the continue button, and there was a flash before the other seven disappeared.

* * *

 _October 5th, 20XX,_

 _Dear Ms. Frisk,_

 _We know today isn't an easy day for you, and we believe you're telling the truth- monsters exist. I, Ian, have observed Ivan's notebook thoroughly. Those drawings are simply creatures you can just make up. They are real, even if no one but us thinks it's true- Theresa hopes you feel better, along with the rest of us, Elliot suddenly thinks he can find Mt. Ebott (which won't happen, we're not letting him up there), Hope gives her condolences and promises to help too. Emilia made the cookies attached with this note and Adrien's counting on you. So, just because the rest of the world can see what we can, doesn't mean we will give up._

 _We will free monsters._

 _Love, Theresa, Elliot, Hope, Ian, Emilia, and Adrien_

 **THE END**

* * *

 **Okay, that's misleading. This isn't all lol, we still have a couple more chapters before this cringefest is over. Also no excuses for not updating except life... also you get a cookie if you can connect the names at the end.**

 **-Ninja**


	39. The True Lab

**I haven't been feeling great lately and life's been busy. After a long wait, here is the next chapter, which takes place in the past.**

"Aw, man! I love Alphys's lab. Plus, she's the last one to say goodbye to before we go home!" Ethan pumped his fist into the air. His eyes glittered with excitement at the thought of seeing the sun again. Harmony agreed, nodding her head in agreement. Tessa sighed to herself, biting her lip.

"Agreed." Ivan smiled as he knocked on the door. He waited for a reply, but nothing...

"Maybe she's out?" Emily suggested, trying to make an explanation they could simply settle on.

"Hey, the door's unlocked." Aiden noticed when twisting the knob. He pushed into the door, which seemed a little bit stuck, but it opened with only a bit of strain.

"Oh, come on, you don't just open a person's door-" Harmony began to complain before looking inside. All the lights were on, but the room was silent. Papers were still scrawled out across the whole lab. On her desk, on the floor... it seemed like it would've been unusual to leave your house like such.

"Unless... she wants us to be here?" Ivan rose an eyebrow, murmuring his own theory.

"You're delusional, Iv." Aiden sighed, he stepped in further, even stepping on a note labeled to them.

"Hey, wait, maybe she did want us to." Aiden agreed, "Guys, get a look at this."

"It's illegible." Tessa sighed.

"If it's illegible, I can read it. Give me that." Ethan declared before snatching the note from Aiden, who just said "okay."

"Hey. Thanks for your help back there. You guys and your support- it really means a lot to me. As difficult as it is to say this, the seven of you can't magically make all my problems go away. I want to be a better person. I don't want to be afraid anymore. And for that to happen, I must face my own mistakes. I'm going to start doing that now. I want to be clear... this isn't anyone else's problem but mine. But if you don't hear from me ever again... if you want to know 'the truth'... enter the bathroom door." Ethan read, flipping the note to see if there was writing on the back. He supposed that was all there was that she had to say.

"She could be in serious danger..." Emily murmured, looking towards the door, "I want to help her. Please...?"

"'Course we will," Aiden responded, "Why wouldn't we?"

"I dunno... you tend to be very... opinionated on things."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing! Erm... Nevermind."

"Let's just go and end this very awkward interaction," Ethan suggested, entering the elevator with Harmony behind him. The others entered as well and Frisk stood in the middle of the elevator.

The doors closed and the lights flickered off; all of a sudden, they began to drop.

Everyone shot into panic, whether it be screaming or crying hysterically.

"WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!" Emily screamed. Ethan and Harmony held onto each other. Aiden laid on the floor and spread himself out. Ivan, although he hated falling whilst in an elevator, deadpanned, "What are you doing?"

"Those five minutes videos actually will come in handy! I'm less likely to die!" Aiden explained, "When an elevator shaft is falling, you should just lay on the floor!"

All of a sudden, they stopped.

"Hey! I'm not dead!"

"Neither are we." Tessa whispered, "I think we're all alive."

Harmony and Ethan blushed awkwardly and inched away to opposite sides of the elevator as the door opened.

Tessa was (cautiously) the first to step out into the room. The floor was covered in pale green tiles. Or, that's how it appeared to be. None of the kids could tell with the dim lighting. They began to walk down the hall, which gave Tessa shivers for some reason. It gave her too much of an eerie feeling.

* * *

 **Entry 1: This is it. Time to do what the King has asked me to do. I will create the power to free us all. I will unleash the power of the soul.**

* * *

"I don't like it here," Tessa finally admitted, although she didn't need to verbally confirm it for them to tell she hated it, "It's so creepy... I... don't like being here." She hugged herself.

* * *

 **Entry 2: The barrier is locked by SOUL power. Unfortunately, this power can not be recreated artificially. SOUL power can only be derived from what was once living. So, to create more, we must use what we have now...**

 **The SOULS of monsters.**

* * *

"Tess, no worries. We won't be down here long. Just find Alphys, help her, and get the hell out of here. We're going to be in and out," He reassured, although none of that was a fact.

* * *

 **Entry 3: But extracting a SOUL from a living monster would require incredible power...**

Besides being impractically, doing so would instantly result in destroying the SOUL's host.

And, unlike the persistent SOULS of humans, the SOULS of most monsters disappear almost immediately after death. If only I could find a way to make them last...

* * *

 **Entry 5: I've done it. I've extracted it from the human SOUL. I believe it is what gives a human's SOUL the strength to persist after death. The will to keep living... the resolve to solve fate. Let's call this power...**

* * *

"Determination."

The seven turned the corner. By this point, everyone was on edge and could barely keep themselves from giving into fear. The walls were cracked. The floors and walls were cold. There was barely any light for them to see where they were going.

* * *

 **Entry 6: ASGORE asked everyone around the city for monsters that had "fallen down." Their bodies came in today. They're still comatose... and soon, they'll all turn into dust. But what will happen if I inject determination into them? If their souls persist after they perish, then... freedom may be closer than we originally thought.**

 **Entry 9: things aren't going well. none of the bodies have turned into dust, so i can't get the souls. i told the families i would give the dust back for their funerals. people are starting to ask me what's happening. what do i do?**

* * *

Emily tried turning on the faucets. Instead of water, something white began to drip out. Ivan pulled her back as the form grew and grew. Harmony couldn't take it and screamed out of pure fear.

"What the hell is that thing?" Aiden whispered, shakily pointing his gun at it as it dispersed into three separate creatures, all looking the exact same.

"Come join the fun..." the distorted voices said through the phones. Tessa felt like crying- she hated creepy things. Even Ethan looked disturbed and even... scared?

As the first attack was upon them, the three all leaped for separate people. Harmony shrieked and dodged. Aiden shot at one. Ivan smacked one with his notebook.

"Stay behind me," Aiden commanded, firing more bullets, "Things seem like they're about to get a hell of a lot creepier." He fended them off before sparing them, picking up the red key in the sink. He stepped into the next room and shoved the key into the slot before twisting it. A red light lit up on the wall.

"Did Aiden just do something intelligent?" Ivan whispered to Emily not so quietly.

"I heard that! But yeah, I did, for your information, Iv."

* * *

 **Entry 12: nothing is happening. i don't know what to do. i'll just keep injecting everything with determination. i want this to work.**

 **Entry 13: one of the bodies opened its eyes.**

* * *

"Keep looking around, guys. I'm guessing we've got to find a buncha keys or something. Eventually we'll find Alphys and maybe it'll make sense," Aiden told them as they checked under the sheets. Tessa pulled out a yellow key,

"Oh, I wish Frisk was here. Too bad the skeleton brothers needed her help..." Emily's smile turned into a frown, "She's usually an expert on this kinda stuff. And Chara would somewhat help us too."

"Help us? More like misguide us." Aiden scoffed, "I'm still not a big fan of that guy." He folded his arms. Chara... well, he didn't seem that much like he was interested in helping them at all? And Aiden knew that some people were like that, but it didn't make him any less frustrated.

* * *

 **Entry 7: We'll need a vessel to wield the monster souls when the time comes. After all, a monster cannot absorb the souls of other monsters. Just as a human soul cannot absorb a human soul... so what about something that's neither?**

* * *

Tessa looked at the buttercups, playing with her hair, "Without Flowey's face, they're much more pretty..."

"I agree," Ivan nodded, quickly sketching it out.

* * *

 **Entry 10: experiments on the vessel are a failure. it doesn't seem to be any different from the control cases. whatever. they're a hassle to work with anyways. the seeds just stick to you and won't let go...**

* * *

Harmony looked at the mirrors, the hairs on her neck sticking up.

"Something seems weird about this..." Emily stared at her reflection. But slowly, it turned into more white goop, and into a monster...

Once again, cue Harmony's shriek. And Ethan's.

"W-what kind of bird is that?" Harmony whispered, taking slow steps backwards as it formed. Aiden, Tessa, and Ivan were behind it, as they had only come over after hearing them scream. Tessa reacted with a squeal.

"I don't know. Be careful," warned Ethan, although sweat was dripping down his forehead. Why was he scared of it? He asked himself. It was just a more extreme monster.

A bit of goop shot out from the amalgamation and onto the floor. A tall, man-like creature with no face appeared before them. Needless to say, everyone was a bit frightened. Or maybe it would be wiser to say they felt a hell of a lot of fear.

Butterflies flew around its head and it grasped its face. The head began to disintegrate and it came upon them, almost running. The butterflies approached as well, zooming past them.

"I'm going to have serious PTSD after this," Aiden muttered, also sweatbeading as the creature approached his three friends. Tessa grasped onto Aiden, still shaky. Ivan looked like he was going to faint.

"This Reaper Bird's attacks are actually terrifying, not even going to lie," Ethan wiped his forehead, punching the goop. A bit of it covered his gloves, but otherwise the creature backed off as Tessa tried to deal with the bird itself. After all, it was the one who had sent the demon at her friends.

The head reformed and replaced the butterflies, a few gloopy heads shooting towards them. They dodged as best as they could, but all of them were knocked down to low health, and to the floor for that matter. Emily held her arms above her head, bracing for the next attack.

Suddenly, the attack stopped. Tessa had spared the amalgamate and it had disappeared.

"Well, I've had enough of this place for a lifetime. We're leaving," Ethan insisted, "We're just going to get hurt if we stay down here. That was too close of a call- even for me."

"But..." Emily began to protest, "What about Alphys? We can't just-"

"She got herself into this mess," He folded his arms.

Tessa fumbled with her sleeves, "We got ourselves underground. She helped us."

"No, she didn't. She caused all of the problems." Ivan pointed out, "We would've gotten through Hotland twenty times faster if she hadn't stopped us with so many puzzles." He nodded to Ethan, seeming to agree.

"She only wanted to be our friend." Harmony reminded them both, although she didn't know how to argue that they were actually safe in the basement.

"We can't leave her by herself- if we do, she could get hurt! And we'd just be terrible for leaving her alone." Emily pushed.

Ethan groaned, knowing she was right.

"Okay, fine. But we should be more careful- we're at the end of this journey and we're not dying now."

* * *

 **A/N: No, the True Lab will not be continued next chapter. I considered it, but you're better off watching the play through if you're that indulged in the plot. I'm pretty sure most people reading this have played/watched someone play the game.**

 **I'm not very interested in writing more amalgamations. Next chapter is close to the finale. Probably the second to last chapter before the epilogue. There will be a rewrite, but I likely will not post it for a while. Will there be a sequel? Yes, but much more modified from the original idea. It will be a bunch of snippets in the future. It won't have a plotline, more like a billion one-offs. The rewrite has a few major modifications to the characters and personalities. The chapters will have much more effort.**

 **Thanks anyways for a read,**

 **-Ninja**


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